WEBVTT

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Hi volleyball fans and welcome back to Volley

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Talk, the podcast created for volleyball lovers

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who want to dig deep into what is going on in

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NCAA and international volleyball. I'm your host,

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Sarah Pavan. I'm an Olympian, beach volleyball

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world champion, former Nebraska Cornhusker, and

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longtime pro, both indoor and on the beach. And

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I'm Adam Schultz, former indoor player, international

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volleyball coach, and the show's resident stat

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guy. We are... Doing a little different rundown

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this week. We are overwhelmed in the best way

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possible with the amount of questions we've been

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getting. So since this was kind of a slower week

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with NCAA play, as far as, you know, the matchups

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weren't marquee, we are going to devote the majority

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of the episode to knocking off a whole bunch

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of listener questions. Full disclosure, we got

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a lot of Nebraska questions. So we have separated

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them by topic. So if you want to jump around,

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if there's something you're not interested in,

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go to the chapter markers on YouTube or on your

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podcast app to find the section that best suits

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you. But other than that, we are going to mix

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a few other things into this episode. including

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a game adam is excited about but basically i

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moral of the story for this week is i have a

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bone to pick with the big 12 and that is that

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so we can't wait to dive in so let's get started

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for weekly highlights and happenings the rankings

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stayed pretty consistent the noteworthy movers

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happened more towards the bottom of the top 25

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so we had north carolina moving up to 15 from

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21 they keep beating good teams i mean they push

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they got smashed by stanford but i mean i'm not

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saying necessarily this week but in general they

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are trending in a very positive direction They've

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had a couple good wins this season against highly

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ranked teams. That's for sure. USC jumped to

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17 from 22. Indiana jumped to 18 from 24. That's

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a big leap. That's a big jump. Given who's below

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them, I feel like it's fair that they're above

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those teams. Yes. But I feel like 18 is generous.

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Mind you, after the top 10, I'm not super impressed

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with anybody. It's a messy middle. Yeah, exactly.

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That's a good way to put it. BYU dropped to 21

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from 17. And they keep losing. They're going

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to be out of the rankings next week. You know

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who should be out of the rankings. We'll get

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to that in a minute. Baylor's down to 23 from

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18. Iowa State just caused issues. Yes. You've

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got to beat those teams. And we watched Iowa

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State. I wasn't super impressed. No. Uh -uh.

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I was not either. But they joined the top 25.

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And they earned it. You can't say that they didn't.

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But I'm just not. In watching them, I'm not sure

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how they're doing it. No, they definitely earned

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it. I'm not trying to take anything away from

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them, but I am trying to take something away

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from like everybody ranked under the top 10 because

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it's just not. The lack of consistency is shocking.

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It's just like the level of performance. I'm

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just like, you guys, it's just the top 10 is

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way better. But it's also the coach's inability

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to recognize when players are not performing

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for whatever reason. And make changes. There

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have been a lot of head -scratching decisions

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made this season. Head -scratching decisions,

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but also lack of decisions. You've got 18 people

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on your roster. That is your job as a coach.

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Make the decisions. Yeah. Make some moves. Keep

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going. Penn State is holding on by their fingernails.

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They should not be in the top 25. They're at

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25. They dropped from 19. I don't know what the

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heck. Actually, we got a question. Let's address

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it. How is Penn State still ranked? That was

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the question. Their win record includes wins

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over New Hampshire, Bucknell, Princeton, Central

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Michigan. Is that really a strong enough resume

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to outweigh their losses and keep them ahead

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of other teams? No. No. I mean, the question

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has a simple answer. In my opinion, they should

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not be ranked anymore. Absolutely not. This is

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a straight respect ranking because they won the

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national championship last year. If this was

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any other team, they would have been long gone.

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Rankings are, what have you done for me lately?

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And the answer for Penn State is they've done

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nothing. They had one good week where there was

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a glimmer of hope. No, they had one good game

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where they beat Wisconsin. One game. We're not

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even putting a week together here. And you thought

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that they were riding the ship, but that has

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not been the case. They 100 % should not be ranked.

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Actually, someone on YouTube did some legwork

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for us. Oh, yeah. Several weeks ago, we asked

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where it came up somehow. when has it ever happened

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that the national champion from the year before

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has not made the tournament? Okay, so here's

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the information that was dug up, and we greatly

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appreciate you doing this. I found it very interesting.

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Since 1981, the defending champion has missed

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the next year's tournament three times. In 1982,

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USC missed, and that was a 28 -team draw. In

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1984, Hawaii missed. That was also a 28 -team

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draw. In 1994, Long Beach State didn't make it,

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and that was a 48 team draw. Now, the interesting

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thing is Penn State is the only school. to have

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never missed the tournament. Nebraska's only

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missed once, and that was the first year. And

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I think they went undefeated in the Big Eight

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that year and still didn't make the tournament.

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So I'm not sure how that works. But if Penn State

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misses this year, and I kind of think this is

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why the ranking is lagging. They're not going

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to miss. The NCAA will make sure they don't miss

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just because of that. To keep that stat going.

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Lots of intrigue happening here because their

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record is not very good. Terrible. I'm curious

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who's not going to make it ahead of them. That

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will be controversy. We are here for that. We

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will talk about that. Something to keep your

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eye on. But thank you for the answers to that

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question. Very interesting. 100%. We also had

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another question. When the weekly rankings are

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released, is there any explanation given? There's

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no explanation given, but I believe you can see

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how many first place votes each of the and other

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votes that each of the schools have gone. So

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there is a bit of a tabulation. But the voters

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do not have to justify the votes that they make.

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Yeah, you can see the first place votes and you

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can see teams that were voted for who didn't

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make the top 25. But as far as an explanation,

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absolutely not. As far as unexpected results

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this week, we have the Big 12 to thank and that's

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about it. Everything else is sailing smoothly.

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Teams who should be winning are winning. I'd

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say the Big 10 has a messy middle. as well the

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big 10 has got a log jam at sixth place and like

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ninth place or something so this is actually

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going to be really interesting for those teams

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because those are the ones that are on the bubble

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for the tournament so these matches coming up

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in the big 10 while the volleyball may not be

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top tier and i'll point to the ucla northwestern

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game that happened not amazing volleyball but

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huge consequences on who's going to the tournament

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yep But the Big 12 is just messing me up right

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now. Especially after that episode we did about

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them. Like, give me a break. Anyway, the results

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that really messed up things further in the Big

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12, which I will say in our Power 4 preview episode,

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we did say that the Big 12 would be the messiest

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conference. that it was the weakest of the Power

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Four conferences as far as skill level of the

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teams, but that it would be the most interesting

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as far as the teams beating each other. So we

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did predict this. However, still frustrating

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doing an episode that we said what would happen.

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Arizona beat BYU in four. What is going on? Kansas

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State beat Colorado in three. Which, again, Colorado

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is beating some good teams in the last week.

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And then, not that Kansas State isn't a good

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team, but that's... that's one on the books that

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you would expect them to win given their previous

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history. Honestly, what I think is happening

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in the Big 12 is that there is an inability to

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prepare for matches that you should win. I think

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that all of those teams are riding roller coasters

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emotionally of big wins and not overlooking teams

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that are below them, but just not getting...

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to the same spot to execute. You don't get weeks

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off. You don't get days off. You have to prepare

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the same for every single team. Respect every

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single team the same. There are no freebies here,

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people. So here's my question for you. When it

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comes to playing a team that's close to you,

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but maybe below you that you should be, whose

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responsibility is it? to make sure you're prepared

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is it the athlete is it the coaching staff is

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it all of the above I think it starts at the

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top for sure I think if a coach has a certain

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attitude about playing specific teams then that

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trickles down to the team and there can be complacency

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so I think you need to treat every single match

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the same from a routine perspective preparation

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video information being disseminated about the

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players whether you think they're good enough

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to disseminate that information or not like you

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do it and honestly as an athlete I always hated

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playing the quote -unquote not good teams the

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most well yeah because they're lose -lose right

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you're supposed to win and if you don't win it's

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a huge deal and if you do win that's what's supposed

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to happen but the last upset was Central Florida

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beat Iowa State in three welcome to the top 25

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go we lose to UCF Wow. That's what kind of happened

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around the NCAA this week. How many teams from

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the Big 12 do you think are going to go to the

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tournament? Like, what's the goal? If you're

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in the Big 12 right now, what do you think guarantees

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you a spot at the show? I know somebody out there

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knows this. I don't have it in front of me right

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now. How many made it last season? I'm going

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to say top five or six. That was my instinct.

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Because nine made it from the Big 10 last year.

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I'm going to say top six. Which means that, again,

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that conference. in those positions is going

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to be really interesting. They're keeping us

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on our toes over there in the Big 12, but yeah,

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that's what happened this week in our weekly

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roundup. Okay, so it's time for a game, and we're

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going to play something new this week. It's something

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that I've been thinking about, wanting to talk

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about teams from a coach's perspective. We're

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going to do the power four. Coach's mood meter.

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This was actually harder than I thought. And

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in order to be fair, I used a random number generator

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to pick which teams we were going to include.

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I think in the future, we're going to do this

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by conference. But for the sake of this one,

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I have eight teams that I've selected. You are

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going to rank them most unhappy. to most happy

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from a coach's standpoint based on where they

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are. I feel like you should be answering this

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question, not me. We can do it together. I ended

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up picking two teams from each conference. So

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here they are. From the Big Ten, we're going

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to look at Wisconsin, who's currently in third

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place with a record of 11 -3. Who's in second?

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Purdue. We're going to look at USC, who is...

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10 -4 in the Big Ten and currently tied for fourth.

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We're going to look at Colorado from the Big

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12, currently 10 -3 in second place, although

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they are on a current two -game losing streak.

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We're going to look at TCU, who is 8 -5, tied

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for sixth place. They have won their last two

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matches, but they play Colorado and Iowa State

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next week. From the ACC, Miami and SMU both tied

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for fourth with an 11 -3 record, currently winning

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games, a six and a three game win streak. And

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finally from the SEC, Texas at 11 -2, which is

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in third place, and Kentucky, who is 13 -0 in

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first place. So you tell me which coaches are

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the most unhappy. Give me a quick reason, and

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then we'll go up the list. So who's at number

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eight for you? Are we going from? Most unhappy.

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Beginning of the season or like beginning of

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conference play. As of this moment in time, looking

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back at the season and looking forward to it.

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So if I was to talk to their coach today, what

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is their mood like? I'm sure I'm going to get

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roasted for these answers, but keep in mind,

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I have had no time to prepare here. This is how

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we play games. This is right off the fly. So

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bottom two. Okay. I will say. Let's go back and

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forth. Bottom two. Then I'll do my bottom two

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and we'll go from there. Most unhappy. Texas.

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Why? Because I feel like at the beginning of

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the season, they expected to be in a first in

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the SEC. And. Sitting at third currently is well

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below the program's expectations. Okay. Okay.

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I would have TCU at the bottom of that list.

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I think that they started so well and they had

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high expectations for the season. You think they

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had high expectations for the season in July?

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I think the coach thought they could be very

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good. And you started out so well and you have

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just continually fallen off the map. Like at

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this point in the season, I think he's the most

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unhappy with how his team is playing. Seventh,

00:14:05.879 --> 00:14:09.879
I'm going to go Wisconsin. I know this is tough.

00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:14.279
The reason I say that is like, yes, midsummer,

00:14:14.460 --> 00:14:17.419
Grace Lopez had gotten injured. They had to do

00:14:17.419 --> 00:14:22.120
a little finagling of their roster. But I think.

00:14:22.860 --> 00:14:26.000
You know, they're always expecting to be top

00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:28.860
two to push Nebraska. I think getting absolutely

00:14:28.860 --> 00:14:33.259
hammered by Nebraska. And now they're not the

00:14:33.259 --> 00:14:35.519
team that they were. Not that they expected to

00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:39.279
be the exact same. But I think dropping into

00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:42.600
third, I'm going to put them at seven. I would

00:14:42.600 --> 00:14:44.679
agree. I would put Wisconsin at seven for me

00:14:44.679 --> 00:14:48.679
as well. You never want to get embarrassed when

00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:51.330
you're a top team. And I think that Nebraska

00:14:51.330 --> 00:14:54.330
just showed that the gap is really big right

00:14:54.330 --> 00:14:57.110
now with them. Plus your Purdue's ahead of you

00:14:57.110 --> 00:15:00.370
and they lost all of their players. It's not

00:15:00.370 --> 00:15:03.169
going the way that it should. That game should

00:15:03.169 --> 00:15:06.610
have been competitive. You also lost your setter.

00:15:06.789 --> 00:15:09.149
I don't think it's happy in Wisconsin right now.

00:15:11.129 --> 00:15:14.250
Sixth, I'm going to do SMU. They are definitely

00:15:14.250 --> 00:15:16.929
where everybody expects them to be, but I think

00:15:16.929 --> 00:15:18.970
they thought that this was potentially a year

00:15:18.970 --> 00:15:22.230
that they could, push Pitt or Louisville to kind

00:15:22.230 --> 00:15:25.990
of elevate themselves above that third spot but

00:15:25.990 --> 00:15:29.070
instead they're where they've been for the last

00:15:29.070 --> 00:15:31.809
couple seasons I'm going to go with Texas next

00:15:31.809 --> 00:15:34.610
for the reasons that you said I think the only

00:15:34.610 --> 00:15:38.110
bright spot about those two losses and we kind

00:15:38.110 --> 00:15:39.769
of talked about this was that your young players

00:15:39.769 --> 00:15:43.029
got experience I'm not sure if I'm on the Texas

00:15:43.029 --> 00:15:46.330
staff that I want to go undefeated I want opportunities

00:15:46.330 --> 00:15:50.009
for those young players to learn and to grow

00:15:50.009 --> 00:15:52.889
if the goal is to win a national championship

00:15:52.889 --> 00:15:55.409
I don't love that I'm in third place so I'm unhappy

00:15:55.409 --> 00:15:59.450
about that but there is a bright side to your

00:15:59.450 --> 00:16:01.330
athletes being in those difficult situations

00:16:01.330 --> 00:16:04.950
especially when they're freshmen fifth I think

00:16:04.950 --> 00:16:08.419
I'm gonna do TCU I think they lost Melanie Parra,

00:16:08.500 --> 00:16:11.860
so that was a huge hit to the program, but they

00:16:11.860 --> 00:16:14.879
started so strong, earned the top ranking the

00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:17.879
program's ever had, but then the drop that we're

00:16:17.879 --> 00:16:20.259
seeing now, it's like, did they peak too early?

00:16:20.379 --> 00:16:22.159
Did teams figure them out? Were they not all

00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:25.240
that? And so to have that scramble happening,

00:16:25.379 --> 00:16:30.019
but being way ahead of where I would have thought

00:16:30.019 --> 00:16:32.860
they would be in the season, I mean, you've got

00:16:32.860 --> 00:16:35.409
to be okay with that right now. I think I'm going

00:16:35.409 --> 00:16:39.190
with SMU next. I think for the same reasons that

00:16:39.190 --> 00:16:43.250
you said, you listened to their coach talk and

00:16:43.250 --> 00:16:45.370
about the program, about what they were doing,

00:16:45.470 --> 00:16:47.830
about what the athletes they brought in. I think

00:16:47.830 --> 00:16:50.809
they expected to take a step this year. I personally

00:16:50.809 --> 00:16:53.110
didn't agree with that assessment, but I think

00:16:53.110 --> 00:16:55.990
they believed they would be better. And they're,

00:16:55.990 --> 00:16:59.570
again, still in the same boat behind Pitt, Louisville.

00:16:59.669 --> 00:17:01.649
I know they beat Stanford, but record -wise,

00:17:01.730 --> 00:17:03.909
that's not the case. You've pulled in all of

00:17:03.909 --> 00:17:05.450
these new athletes. You're trying all of these

00:17:05.450 --> 00:17:06.990
things, and you're kind of ending up in the same

00:17:06.990 --> 00:17:08.730
place. So I think that's got to be a little frustrating.

00:17:09.130 --> 00:17:12.549
Fourth, I'm going to go with Miami. I think they

00:17:12.549 --> 00:17:17.289
were kind of upper middle of the ACC last year.

00:17:17.789 --> 00:17:22.269
They lost. at idea cologne so not that there

00:17:22.269 --> 00:17:25.109
were huge expectations getting her back do i

00:17:25.109 --> 00:17:27.069
think they thought they would be tied for third

00:17:27.069 --> 00:17:30.289
currently i would be shocked i think that they

00:17:30.289 --> 00:17:33.069
should be very happy with where they currently

00:17:33.069 --> 00:17:37.869
are given what their outlook was in may i'm gonna

00:17:37.869 --> 00:17:40.710
put miami at four as well for a slightly different

00:17:40.710 --> 00:17:43.829
reason the reason for me that they're not higher

00:17:43.829 --> 00:17:47.049
is they've been inconsistent i think they've

00:17:47.049 --> 00:17:50.369
lost games that they shouldn't have lost. I think

00:17:50.369 --> 00:17:53.549
they have, yes, Heredia Colon coming back was

00:17:53.549 --> 00:17:57.289
a boon. When they play really well, they're fun

00:17:57.289 --> 00:17:59.390
to watch. They've got a ton of energy. They've

00:17:59.390 --> 00:18:02.490
got swagger, but it just doesn't show up consistently.

00:18:02.769 --> 00:18:05.470
And I know from a coach's standpoint, that can

00:18:05.470 --> 00:18:07.630
be uber frustrating where it's like, hey, we're

00:18:07.630 --> 00:18:10.369
just not hitting our potential. And I'm not saying

00:18:10.369 --> 00:18:13.329
they're not trying. When you know you could be

00:18:13.329 --> 00:18:15.930
better than you are, that part is frustrating.

00:18:16.519 --> 00:18:18.380
However, they're doing well as a program. They're

00:18:18.380 --> 00:18:21.259
in a good place. They're slated to make the tournament,

00:18:21.420 --> 00:18:23.480
I think. So that's why I would have them in the

00:18:23.480 --> 00:18:26.259
middle of the pack there. Third, I'm going to

00:18:26.259 --> 00:18:30.299
say USC. They lost a few players to graduation,

00:18:30.299 --> 00:18:34.079
to the transfer portal. So starting fresh with

00:18:34.079 --> 00:18:37.059
a bunch of freshmen, they were not highly ranked

00:18:37.059 --> 00:18:42.480
going into Big Ten season to be currently tied

00:18:42.480 --> 00:18:46.589
for fourth. When your crosstown rival was projected

00:18:46.589 --> 00:18:49.829
at fourth at the beginning of the season, I would

00:18:49.829 --> 00:18:53.289
have seen that as a bit of a snub. But they're

00:18:53.289 --> 00:18:56.069
doing decently. They're getting some good wins

00:18:56.069 --> 00:18:59.650
against teams with a really young squad. So I

00:18:59.650 --> 00:19:02.589
think that is boding well for the future. I'm

00:19:02.589 --> 00:19:05.410
going to go with Kentucky at three. They're obviously

00:19:05.410 --> 00:19:07.410
winning a ton. They're in first place in the

00:19:07.410 --> 00:19:12.710
SEC, 13 -0. But I think Craig Skinner and the

00:19:12.710 --> 00:19:16.029
coaching staff, understands the way they are

00:19:16.029 --> 00:19:18.829
currently playing is not good enough to beat

00:19:18.829 --> 00:19:22.529
the top top teams I have to imagine that they

00:19:22.529 --> 00:19:24.549
are having conversations about running the middle

00:19:24.549 --> 00:19:28.170
about doing other things and it's just whether

00:19:28.170 --> 00:19:31.630
their freshman setter is nervous or just not

00:19:31.630 --> 00:19:33.990
thinking about it or not getting on the same

00:19:33.990 --> 00:19:37.529
page it's not happening and I think he can see

00:19:37.529 --> 00:19:40.710
where this train comes off the rails potentially

00:19:40.710 --> 00:19:44.049
unless those two are Just unbelievably good.

00:19:44.130 --> 00:19:46.589
So I think there's a little bit of apprehension

00:19:46.589 --> 00:19:48.309
there, even though they are pulling wins out.

00:19:48.390 --> 00:19:50.470
I don't think they looked amazing against Tennessee.

00:19:50.690 --> 00:19:54.069
Hudson, little injury, that's a scare. It's good,

00:19:54.269 --> 00:19:57.009
but there's a little concern there for what it

00:19:57.009 --> 00:19:59.730
looks like come tournament time. Okay, I was

00:19:59.730 --> 00:20:02.670
going to put Kentucky at two. They've had some

00:20:02.670 --> 00:20:07.130
huge wins in the SEC, taking down Texas decisively.

00:20:07.609 --> 00:20:10.430
I think the players that they brought in are

00:20:10.430 --> 00:20:13.180
definitely performing. I understand what you're

00:20:13.180 --> 00:20:16.440
saying about some red flags of winning it all,

00:20:16.579 --> 00:20:20.440
but I think right now they are poised to win

00:20:20.440 --> 00:20:23.740
the SEC, which is step one. This is the closest

00:20:23.740 --> 00:20:26.900
that they have been to being a contender since

00:20:26.900 --> 00:20:30.940
2020. I think they are satisfied, but not enough

00:20:30.940 --> 00:20:33.339
to be first place. I'm going to go with Colorado

00:20:33.339 --> 00:20:36.799
at two. I mean, they've had an incredible season

00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:39.519
in the Big 12 so far. I don't think anybody pegged

00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:42.079
them to be where they're at. Pretty much regardless

00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:44.200
of how the rest of the season pans out. I don't

00:20:44.200 --> 00:20:45.660
think they're going to stay at two. I think they're

00:20:45.660 --> 00:20:47.880
going to lose a couple more matches. You've seen

00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:50.579
where the program can go. You've beat the teams

00:20:50.579 --> 00:20:53.160
you've had to beat. I think they have some pieces

00:20:53.160 --> 00:20:55.779
in place that could potentially grow. You're

00:20:55.779 --> 00:20:58.180
in the conversation and you weren't before. So

00:20:58.180 --> 00:21:01.500
I think overall, right now, Colorado coaching

00:21:01.500 --> 00:21:03.400
staff has to be super happy with where they are.

00:21:03.539 --> 00:21:05.859
And that's why I'm putting Colorado at one. They

00:21:05.859 --> 00:21:10.420
were in nobody's conversation on no one's radar.

00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:14.079
heading into this season, I think they've already

00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:18.119
more than exceeded what they thought they were

00:21:18.119 --> 00:21:20.500
going to do and what they thought was possible

00:21:20.500 --> 00:21:23.859
this season. So regardless of how it pans out,

00:21:23.940 --> 00:21:27.039
just being satisfied, I think that has to keep

00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:29.819
you at number one. For similar reasons, I'm picking

00:21:29.819 --> 00:21:33.240
USC. If I'm a coach there, I'm loving our season.

00:21:33.460 --> 00:21:37.700
We've got so much potential. We're tied for fourth

00:21:37.700 --> 00:21:41.220
in the big... 10 with a bunch of freshmen, super

00:21:41.220 --> 00:21:44.339
physical. There's no way they thought they were

00:21:44.339 --> 00:21:45.640
going to be in this position at the beginning

00:21:45.640 --> 00:21:48.160
of the season. And it's just gelled for them.

00:21:48.279 --> 00:21:51.279
The future is just so bright. You're going to

00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:53.819
get a chance to go to the tournament, most likely,

00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:56.059
unless the wheels fall off in the last three

00:21:56.059 --> 00:21:58.500
weeks. If you ask their coaching staff, hey,

00:21:58.559 --> 00:22:01.180
you'll be in this position come, you know, the

00:22:01.180 --> 00:22:02.980
first week of November. They're like, yeah, I'm

00:22:02.980 --> 00:22:05.180
going to take this every single time. Yeah, I

00:22:05.180 --> 00:22:08.400
think the USC staff is. is popping bubbly after

00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:11.319
the weekends. I hope you guys like these games.

00:22:11.400 --> 00:22:13.059
I keep trying to come up with things that could

00:22:13.059 --> 00:22:15.160
be fun and interesting ways to talk about lots

00:22:15.160 --> 00:22:17.920
of teams. Again, always open for feedback. If

00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:20.099
you guys have thoughts or you liked it and it's

00:22:20.099 --> 00:22:21.519
something we should throw into the rotation,

00:22:21.799 --> 00:22:24.519
let us know. All right. So as we mentioned at

00:22:24.519 --> 00:22:26.500
the beginning of the episode, we have just a

00:22:26.500 --> 00:22:28.299
ton of listener questions, which is awesome.

00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:31.099
We've separated the questions by topic. So we'll

00:22:31.099 --> 00:22:33.559
go through them one at a time, see where the

00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:35.519
conversation leads, and we'll leave it at that.

00:22:35.619 --> 00:22:36.940
We are not going to make it through all of them.

00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:39.339
There are going to be a lot left over, but we

00:22:39.339 --> 00:22:40.940
have them all written down. So if we don't hit

00:22:40.940 --> 00:22:43.359
yours, we haven't forgotten about you. Topic

00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:46.799
one is Nebraska. We get a ton of questions about

00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:48.500
Nebraska. And since we can't talk about them

00:22:48.500 --> 00:22:50.000
because they kill everybody, we'll just answer

00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:52.509
the questions. And we also can't talk about them

00:22:52.509 --> 00:22:54.450
because if we do talk about them, everybody says

00:22:54.450 --> 00:22:57.190
that we are obsessed with Nebraska. So it's a

00:22:57.190 --> 00:22:59.970
lose -lose. Okay, question one. Sarah, I'm curious

00:22:59.970 --> 00:23:02.750
about your thoughts on DBK's approach to practice

00:23:02.750 --> 00:23:05.269
versus John Cook's approach to practice. DBK

00:23:05.269 --> 00:23:07.609
seems to like to actually have her players play

00:23:07.609 --> 00:23:10.049
slash scrimmage during practice. as opposed to

00:23:10.049 --> 00:23:12.089
Cook's method of focusing on skills and drills

00:23:12.089 --> 00:23:15.589
more. Also, DBK likes to use many subs to maximize

00:23:15.589 --> 00:23:17.829
her team's collective skill set, whereas Cook

00:23:17.829 --> 00:23:20.049
is stuck with the six to eight players and forces

00:23:20.049 --> 00:23:22.490
them to figure things out. What's your preference?

00:23:22.569 --> 00:23:25.769
And then Adam, how does this fit with your coaching

00:23:25.769 --> 00:23:28.109
philosophy? I think there needs to be a balance.

00:23:28.269 --> 00:23:32.490
Drills are very important to work on specific

00:23:32.490 --> 00:23:36.349
techniques and to learn new skills, kind of like

00:23:36.349 --> 00:23:40.289
expand an athlete's repertoire. I feel like just

00:23:40.289 --> 00:23:43.569
playing, it doesn't really expand an athlete's

00:23:43.569 --> 00:23:46.789
skill set in any way. And I think you need to

00:23:46.789 --> 00:23:50.559
get repetition. at skills to make improvement

00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:53.440
that being said there is a place for scrimmage

00:23:53.440 --> 00:23:56.339
in practice like high pressure situations things

00:23:56.339 --> 00:23:58.720
like that you have to run your systems work on

00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:02.559
those systems i think now with the transfer portal

00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:05.039
we are seeing a lot more coaches get away from

00:24:05.039 --> 00:24:08.019
the drills why develop athletes if they're just

00:24:08.019 --> 00:24:09.539
going to leave and be your competition later

00:24:09.539 --> 00:24:12.819
i don't personally agree with that but maybe

00:24:12.819 --> 00:24:15.740
that's a thought process i know when i played

00:24:15.740 --> 00:24:19.160
for coach cook Probably half the practice would

00:24:19.160 --> 00:24:22.579
be individual skill work by position. And then

00:24:22.579 --> 00:24:26.839
we would get into more live six on six scenarios

00:24:26.839 --> 00:24:30.619
in a drill context. I'm not a fan of just like

00:24:30.619 --> 00:24:33.980
playing a match or straight up scrimmaging in

00:24:33.980 --> 00:24:36.680
practice. I think there needs to be a purpose

00:24:36.680 --> 00:24:39.859
behind six on six play in practice. Overall,

00:24:40.019 --> 00:24:43.259
I would say a mixture. of the two is necessary.

00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:46.299
As far as substitutions go, that's the reason

00:24:46.299 --> 00:24:50.980
you have a full team. Like the six to ten players

00:24:50.980 --> 00:24:53.259
that are on your bench, yes, it is important

00:24:53.259 --> 00:24:56.019
to have them as a B -side during practice, but

00:24:56.019 --> 00:24:58.160
everybody needs to have a role and be prepared

00:24:58.160 --> 00:25:01.279
to come in at any time. If a player is not performing

00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:04.539
or somebody's skill set lends itself to a particular

00:25:04.539 --> 00:25:07.559
situation against a particular athlete or team

00:25:07.559 --> 00:25:10.900
or strategy, absolutely they need to be brought

00:25:10.900 --> 00:25:13.049
into the game. And again, I'll say it. That is

00:25:13.049 --> 00:25:15.789
why you have so many people on the team. Totally

00:25:15.789 --> 00:25:17.630
agree. What happens if one of your eight get

00:25:17.630 --> 00:25:19.430
hurt at the tournament or late in the season,

00:25:19.490 --> 00:25:20.930
then you're putting somebody in with no experience.

00:25:21.170 --> 00:25:24.170
My philosophy on practice is similar to Sarah's

00:25:24.170 --> 00:25:26.990
where I think every athlete always needs to know

00:25:26.990 --> 00:25:29.890
what they are specifically trying to work on

00:25:29.890 --> 00:25:32.769
in any given context, whether that's drills or

00:25:32.769 --> 00:25:35.349
competitions. Again, assuming you have your matches

00:25:35.349 --> 00:25:37.289
more to the end of the week, I generally like

00:25:37.289 --> 00:25:40.769
to do skill development. Monday and Tuesday and

00:25:40.769 --> 00:25:42.630
then you kind of ramp into more competitive that

00:25:42.630 --> 00:25:45.130
also gives athletes a chance to recover from

00:25:45.130 --> 00:25:48.230
playing on the weekend I think a balance is definitely

00:25:48.230 --> 00:25:50.609
warranted and when an athlete's learning a new

00:25:50.609 --> 00:25:53.109
skill you also they need to understand what that

00:25:53.109 --> 00:25:55.130
skill is in isolation if they're going to take

00:25:55.130 --> 00:25:57.329
it to a competitive environment they need to

00:25:57.329 --> 00:25:58.809
know whether they're doing it right or wrong

00:25:58.809 --> 00:26:01.049
so that individual skill development is really

00:26:01.049 --> 00:26:05.059
important okay question two for Nebraska You

00:26:05.059 --> 00:26:06.839
say that a middle cannot be the go -to player

00:26:06.839 --> 00:26:09.420
for a team. However, Dana Retke was the go -to

00:26:09.420 --> 00:26:12.500
for Wisconsin in their 2021 run to the national

00:26:12.500 --> 00:26:15.299
championship. Watching Nebraska's latest matches

00:26:15.299 --> 00:26:17.319
against Wisconsin and Minnesota, it really looks

00:26:17.319 --> 00:26:20.160
like Alec and Jackson are doing really well as

00:26:20.160 --> 00:26:22.500
the go -to players for Nebraska. In the tight

00:26:22.500 --> 00:26:24.740
second set against Minnesota, the final points

00:26:24.740 --> 00:26:27.559
to win the set all went to the Nebraska middles.

00:26:27.740 --> 00:26:31.220
Okay. You or me. I have thoughts, but you can

00:26:31.220 --> 00:26:34.230
go ahead. You can. Have a middle as your go -to

00:26:34.230 --> 00:26:39.609
player is just dangerous because you can't always

00:26:39.609 --> 00:26:43.069
get them the ball. Yes, if you pass well enough,

00:26:43.190 --> 00:26:46.750
set them all the time. I'm completely for that.

00:26:46.849 --> 00:26:48.950
I guarantee if we went back and looked at the

00:26:48.950 --> 00:26:51.829
2021 stats, Dana Recchi did not get the most

00:26:51.829 --> 00:26:54.210
number of sets. Now again, we talk about the

00:26:54.210 --> 00:26:56.690
go -to player being the person who you want to

00:26:56.690 --> 00:26:59.089
have the ball in high pressure moments. That

00:26:59.089 --> 00:27:02.599
can be your middle. You just need somebody else

00:27:02.599 --> 00:27:05.119
to be able to do it if you can't get them the

00:27:05.119 --> 00:27:08.000
ball. Unless there's a straight -up ace, you

00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:10.460
can always get your outside hitters the ball.

00:27:10.619 --> 00:27:13.240
Always. Throw up a high ball. That is why we

00:27:13.240 --> 00:27:15.720
say middles can't be the go -to hitters, is because

00:27:15.720 --> 00:27:18.380
there are certain scenarios where it is impossible

00:27:18.380 --> 00:27:22.299
to set them. My other point is that if you watch

00:27:22.299 --> 00:27:25.940
Dana Redke run the slide, it is slow as hell.

00:27:26.380 --> 00:27:30.460
It is a slow... slide which could arguably be

00:27:30.460 --> 00:27:32.519
considered a right side attack out of system

00:27:32.519 --> 00:27:35.539
and internationally this is why I hate her slide

00:27:35.539 --> 00:27:37.180
so much internationally it's because it's so

00:27:37.180 --> 00:27:40.220
slow it is there's a huge difference between

00:27:40.220 --> 00:27:42.720
the speed that Ratke runs the slide and Andy

00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:45.700
Jackson which makes it easier to get her the

00:27:45.700 --> 00:27:48.519
ball because it is so high and slow okay question

00:27:48.519 --> 00:27:50.519
three I'd love to hear more about Sarah's thoughts

00:27:50.519 --> 00:27:53.339
on Nebraska's opposite situation why the long

00:27:53.339 --> 00:27:57.230
leash if As both of us had said, we don't think

00:27:57.230 --> 00:28:01.049
DBK makes decisions to be nice. If this is the

00:28:01.049 --> 00:28:04.410
case, why isn't Sheck getting in more? Yeah,

00:28:04.430 --> 00:28:07.049
I'm not happy with the opposite situation. Nebraska

00:28:07.049 --> 00:28:09.990
hasn't had a dominant opposite in a while. Since

00:28:09.990 --> 00:28:14.549
I've been there. Well, I'm a dinosaur, so that's

00:28:14.549 --> 00:28:17.269
going way back. Honestly, they haven't needed

00:28:17.269 --> 00:28:21.490
it. It's easy when you don't need it. I think

00:28:21.490 --> 00:28:24.960
that that is the key. is she's a first year.

00:28:25.079 --> 00:28:28.000
She's coming in. If she turns into something

00:28:28.000 --> 00:28:31.319
long term, you've got her for four years and

00:28:31.319 --> 00:28:35.640
she can be a staple for you. I think DBK is having

00:28:35.640 --> 00:28:39.599
patience with her because she sees what the future

00:28:39.599 --> 00:28:43.200
could be for four years with a 6 -5 opposite.

00:28:43.500 --> 00:28:45.619
Yeah, we're talking a freshman versus a senior.

00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:48.660
They don't need Sheck to win. So why not? Right

00:28:48.660 --> 00:28:50.740
now they don't need Adriano to win either. But

00:28:50.740 --> 00:28:52.940
that's what I'm saying. She can figure it out.

00:28:52.980 --> 00:28:55.339
And she's not a blocking liability. She does

00:28:55.339 --> 00:28:58.680
well. Her skills around the game are quite good.

00:28:58.940 --> 00:29:01.579
Outside of she hasn't found her attacking rhythm

00:29:01.579 --> 00:29:03.940
with Bergen Riley yet. Honestly, she's not as

00:29:03.940 --> 00:29:06.059
good as I expected her to be. And that's fair.

00:29:06.180 --> 00:29:08.759
But you still, you don't get a 6 -5 opposite

00:29:08.759 --> 00:29:12.259
every day. I think there's way more upside to

00:29:12.259 --> 00:29:14.380
letting her stay in and figure it out. And it's

00:29:14.380 --> 00:29:16.099
not costing you wins. And I think that's why

00:29:16.099 --> 00:29:19.549
she's playing. Question four, who is Nebraska's

00:29:19.549 --> 00:29:23.309
biggest rival today? My instinct is Texas. I

00:29:23.309 --> 00:29:25.849
honestly still think it's Texas, and I would

00:29:25.849 --> 00:29:29.789
add Wisconsin into the mix. Wisconsin's a historical

00:29:29.789 --> 00:29:33.170
rival. Texas is historical. We're going back

00:29:33.170 --> 00:29:36.430
to big 12 years here, where it was always Nebraska

00:29:36.430 --> 00:29:41.190
versus Texas. And that hatred ran deep. Fair,

00:29:41.329 --> 00:29:45.369
but I think from a competitive standpoint, right

00:29:45.369 --> 00:29:48.069
now it's Texas. They're the closest. Yeah, but

00:29:48.069 --> 00:29:50.670
I would argue like a rivalry isn't just like

00:29:50.670 --> 00:29:53.589
a year -to -year thing. It's longstanding. It's

00:29:53.589 --> 00:29:56.809
built in tradition. That's why I'm saying Texas.

00:29:57.170 --> 00:30:00.609
And granted, Nebraska swept the floor with Wisconsin

00:30:00.609 --> 00:30:03.710
a couple weeks ago, but like in recent years

00:30:03.710 --> 00:30:06.450
and since they've come to the Big Ten, I would

00:30:06.450 --> 00:30:09.190
say it's developed with Wisconsin. Yeah, totally.

00:30:09.309 --> 00:30:11.750
I guess I read that question as today question

00:30:11.750 --> 00:30:14.609
mark meaning historical context out the window.

00:30:16.110 --> 00:30:18.829
That's fair. Wisconsin and Texas make sense.

00:30:19.230 --> 00:30:23.470
Our last Nebraska question for today is, what

00:30:23.470 --> 00:30:25.970
is it that makes Bergen -Riley such a dominant

00:30:25.970 --> 00:30:28.930
setter? Okay, full disclosure, we've gotten so

00:30:28.930 --> 00:30:31.289
many questions about Bergen -Riley. A lot of

00:30:31.289 --> 00:30:34.190
people think we don't like her. She's our fantasy

00:30:34.190 --> 00:30:36.410
setter. Enough said. She's on our fantasy team.

00:30:36.470 --> 00:30:39.900
Thank you so much. A lot of people have... Been

00:30:39.900 --> 00:30:43.019
upset that we didn't talk about her when we talked

00:30:43.019 --> 00:30:45.460
about the Nebraska -Wisconsin match. Fair. We

00:30:45.460 --> 00:30:48.200
didn't talk about her. We should have. But some

00:30:48.200 --> 00:30:50.920
follow -ups to that is it feels like Bergen -Riley

00:30:50.920 --> 00:30:52.980
has really leveled up from last season and is

00:30:52.980 --> 00:30:55.839
changing the standard for high -level NCAA settings.

00:30:55.900 --> 00:30:58.380
She's forcing the middle even when it's almost

00:30:58.380 --> 00:31:01.740
unsettable. So all the questions around her.

00:31:01.920 --> 00:31:06.119
Why don't we like her? What makes her so good?

00:31:06.640 --> 00:31:09.359
Is she National Player of the Year? candidate

00:31:09.359 --> 00:31:14.500
what makes her and what makes a that are so good

00:31:14.500 --> 00:31:18.000
okay let's get one thing straight here setters

00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:21.039
and liberos are in the same category if you don't

00:31:21.039 --> 00:31:24.210
talk about them They're doing a good job. I don't

00:31:24.210 --> 00:31:27.069
recall ever saying that we don't like her. I

00:31:27.069 --> 00:31:29.589
recall saying I think Izzy Stark's better, which

00:31:29.589 --> 00:31:32.690
I will stand by that. We'll see what a year without

00:31:32.690 --> 00:31:35.250
any practice does. But that's all I remember

00:31:35.250 --> 00:31:37.029
saying is that I think Izzy Stark is better.

00:31:37.150 --> 00:31:38.910
I don't ever recall saying that we don't like

00:31:38.910 --> 00:31:40.349
her. I think it's the lack of... Oh, you know

00:31:40.349 --> 00:31:42.650
what we did say last year? Her out -of -system

00:31:42.650 --> 00:31:46.150
setting was inconsistent. I stand by that. Nebraska's

00:31:46.150 --> 00:31:49.630
been in -system for her whole career. Last season,

00:31:49.690 --> 00:31:52.509
her out -of -system setting was... Kind of all

00:31:52.509 --> 00:31:55.490
over the place, I thought. I think that's fair

00:31:55.490 --> 00:31:58.410
criticism. Now, I will say, I think she runs

00:31:58.410 --> 00:32:01.210
a very balanced offense. I think she reads the

00:32:01.210 --> 00:32:04.150
game really well. I think she has found... We

00:32:04.150 --> 00:32:07.150
talk about Rebecca Alec becoming a force in the

00:32:07.150 --> 00:32:09.890
middle. That doesn't happen only on her term.

00:32:09.970 --> 00:32:11.529
Bergen has to find her. No, that connection is

00:32:11.529 --> 00:32:14.269
important. And so she's done a good job with

00:32:14.269 --> 00:32:17.190
that. She runs Andy Jackson well. I really like

00:32:17.190 --> 00:32:19.920
her... decision -making, and I think her execution

00:32:19.920 --> 00:32:21.880
has been really good. The timing of her dump.

00:32:22.220 --> 00:32:26.539
Yes. Her defense is outstanding. She's very,

00:32:26.759 --> 00:32:32.539
very good. And I think the other piece is I don't

00:32:32.539 --> 00:32:35.079
think she's an international setter. She does

00:32:35.079 --> 00:32:37.319
everything well, but she's not going to set for

00:32:37.319 --> 00:32:39.740
Team USA. She could play pro here in the U .S.,

00:32:39.740 --> 00:32:40.740
but she's not going to play. People are going

00:32:40.740 --> 00:32:44.339
to be pissed that you said that. She's not going

00:32:44.339 --> 00:32:48.440
to be. I just don't see it. I don't think she's

00:32:48.440 --> 00:32:53.019
dynamic enough to play at the next level. But

00:32:53.019 --> 00:32:55.480
she's incredibly good, and she's the backbone

00:32:55.480 --> 00:32:57.220
of Nebraska. I think her and Jackson are the

00:32:57.220 --> 00:33:00.640
reason they're so good. I agree that she's forcing

00:33:00.640 --> 00:33:04.140
the middle more, especially off the net. I think

00:33:04.140 --> 00:33:06.900
having a middle like Andy Jackson, whose window

00:33:06.900 --> 00:33:09.839
is massive, definitely helps. But I think a lot

00:33:09.839 --> 00:33:12.700
of people are crediting Nebraska's over 300 hitting

00:33:12.700 --> 00:33:17.349
percentage strictly to her. While, okay, yes,

00:33:17.490 --> 00:33:19.690
that is accurate to an extent. I think it does

00:33:19.690 --> 00:33:21.630
a disservice to the other athletes that Nebraska

00:33:21.630 --> 00:33:26.029
has. A hitter doesn't hit 400 or a team doesn't

00:33:26.029 --> 00:33:30.309
hit over 300 just because of the setter. The

00:33:30.309 --> 00:33:34.609
hitters are doing their job as well. Well, and

00:33:34.609 --> 00:33:37.069
there's two parts to that. One, you can have

00:33:37.069 --> 00:33:39.210
that high of a team hitting percentage when you're

00:33:39.210 --> 00:33:41.549
always in system. So that's the passing. Well,

00:33:41.549 --> 00:33:43.670
they're less in system now than they used to

00:33:43.670 --> 00:33:48.519
be. fair her being able to run the slide off

00:33:48.519 --> 00:33:52.160
less than ideal passes is opens the floor up

00:33:52.160 --> 00:33:54.759
and being able to have a couple back roll balls

00:33:54.759 --> 00:33:58.500
helps she does a good job of getting compromised

00:33:58.500 --> 00:34:02.339
blocks for her hitters which goes to her credit

00:34:02.339 --> 00:34:05.980
but your outsides still have to score the other

00:34:05.980 --> 00:34:09.099
thing too though is that their hitters don't

00:34:09.099 --> 00:34:11.360
make a ton of mistakes and that really helps

00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:13.780
your hitting percentage if it's a kill or a continue

00:34:14.820 --> 00:34:17.960
that boosts that rating. Overall, I think, as

00:34:17.960 --> 00:34:21.199
Adam said, she is one of the best setters in

00:34:21.199 --> 00:34:24.239
the NCAA. 100%. And we'll say it again. She was

00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:26.619
our pick for our fantasy team. Thank you so much.

00:34:26.800 --> 00:34:28.519
Although she's not scoring us very many points

00:34:28.519 --> 00:34:30.179
because Nebraska wins in three all the time.

00:34:30.280 --> 00:34:33.039
Yeah, not the best. So whatever. We're not bitter

00:34:33.039 --> 00:34:35.400
about it. But yeah, she runs a very balanced

00:34:35.400 --> 00:34:38.539
offense. Her decision -making is sound. She's

00:34:38.539 --> 00:34:41.960
forcing the middle from compromised situations.

00:34:42.559 --> 00:34:45.510
She plays good defense. She gets decent touches

00:34:45.510 --> 00:34:48.570
on the block. All of those contribute to how

00:34:48.570 --> 00:34:51.949
good she has become as a setter. And do I think

00:34:51.949 --> 00:34:53.469
she's a National Player of the Year candidate?

00:34:53.769 --> 00:34:56.789
Yes. And I think on a team like Nebraska where

00:34:56.789 --> 00:35:00.730
not one player shines, but they are so incredibly

00:35:00.730 --> 00:35:04.789
dominant, it's hard to pick one player to stand

00:35:04.789 --> 00:35:06.889
out above the rest. So in a situation like that,

00:35:06.969 --> 00:35:10.170
it should go to the setter. Okay, the next category

00:35:10.170 --> 00:35:15.699
we created is other NCAA teams. We need to get

00:35:15.699 --> 00:35:18.239
more listeners who are passionate about their

00:35:18.239 --> 00:35:20.500
teams other than Nebraska. Yeah, and for everybody

00:35:20.500 --> 00:35:23.559
who's mad about the Nebraska talk, you need to

00:35:23.559 --> 00:35:25.599
submit questions if you're not a Nebraska fan.

00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:29.340
Nebraska fans tune in. They submit their questions.

00:35:29.760 --> 00:35:31.599
And just so everybody knows, I'm Canadian. I

00:35:31.599 --> 00:35:33.519
didn't even know about Nebraska until I met Sarah.

00:35:33.719 --> 00:35:37.340
I'm not a homer at all. I don't even think I

00:35:37.340 --> 00:35:41.519
would say I'm a homer. of Nebraska probably more

00:35:41.519 --> 00:35:43.420
than other teams. This year there's nothing to

00:35:43.420 --> 00:35:46.760
be critical of except the Liberos. Anyway, that's

00:35:46.760 --> 00:35:49.059
not going to get us any friends. Okay, question

00:35:49.059 --> 00:35:53.719
one. Do you see anyone currently in CAA and who

00:35:53.719 --> 00:35:57.460
hasn't played VNL? So that takes Lednicki and

00:35:57.460 --> 00:35:59.820
Babcock off the table. Who have the potential

00:35:59.820 --> 00:36:03.820
to be on the national team before LA, USA, or

00:36:03.820 --> 00:36:07.630
Canada? Is there a... good enough group of top

00:36:07.630 --> 00:36:11.469
players or is it kind of closed off to the people

00:36:11.469 --> 00:36:14.289
who have currently been playing? Well, Andy Jackson

00:36:14.289 --> 00:36:16.889
comes to mind for me. Andy Jackson. I would have

00:36:16.889 --> 00:36:19.989
said Izzy Stark. Mind you, she still would have

00:36:19.989 --> 00:36:21.630
been in college. So the timing would have been

00:36:21.630 --> 00:36:24.010
a little iffy. I think we need to look at players

00:36:24.010 --> 00:36:26.969
who are like not going to be in college because

00:36:26.969 --> 00:36:29.139
they're not going to call somebody up. Who's

00:36:29.139 --> 00:36:31.500
in college unless they're hands down better than

00:36:31.500 --> 00:36:33.139
everybody else, I don't think. I would agree

00:36:33.139 --> 00:36:34.679
with that. And you have to remember, there's

00:36:34.679 --> 00:36:38.699
14 roster spots, most of which are already spoken

00:36:38.699 --> 00:36:43.639
for. I could see Kennedy Martin maybe getting

00:36:43.639 --> 00:36:45.760
a look. I think they would bring her to the gym

00:36:45.760 --> 00:36:48.599
for sure. Yeah. Okay, so let's clarify. Do I

00:36:48.599 --> 00:36:50.039
think any of those players are going to make

00:36:50.039 --> 00:36:53.460
the Olympic roster? No. Do I think that there's

00:36:53.460 --> 00:36:55.849
potential that some of these... athletes could

00:36:55.849 --> 00:36:58.630
be brought to a VNL week, let's do it that way.

00:36:58.710 --> 00:37:02.369
Because I think then you have a few more potential

00:37:02.369 --> 00:37:05.030
candidates who could make some noise in a VNL.

00:37:05.469 --> 00:37:08.110
Honestly, Brooklyn Delay maybe? Yeah, so the

00:37:08.110 --> 00:37:10.650
three that pop into my mind are Brooklyn Delay,

00:37:10.730 --> 00:37:13.670
Andy Jackson, and Kennedy Martin. I'm trying

00:37:13.670 --> 00:37:16.030
to think if there's a libero. On the Canadian

00:37:16.030 --> 00:37:21.070
side, I am not thinking so. No, not on the women's

00:37:21.070 --> 00:37:22.929
side, I don't think. What do you think about

00:37:22.929 --> 00:37:25.530
Mimi Collier? She is similar to Sarah Franklin.

00:37:26.210 --> 00:37:29.489
She's an interesting one. Maybe. She needs to

00:37:29.489 --> 00:37:31.670
pass really well, though. And you already said

00:37:31.670 --> 00:37:33.730
no to Bergen -Riley. I think they'll bring her

00:37:33.730 --> 00:37:36.510
to the gym for sure. Oh, I think out of respect,

00:37:36.570 --> 00:37:38.789
she'll get invited to the gym, but I don't think

00:37:38.789 --> 00:37:41.690
she can make the jump to playing at that level.

00:37:41.969 --> 00:37:45.369
I think Erica Sayre for Stanford. She's super

00:37:45.369 --> 00:37:48.329
young, so I would say maybe not for LA, but I

00:37:48.329 --> 00:37:51.389
think she has potential for sure. Yeah, I think

00:37:51.389 --> 00:37:54.409
those are probably the athletes that are on the

00:37:54.409 --> 00:37:55.849
radar. I'm trying to think if there's any other

00:37:55.849 --> 00:37:59.670
middles who might get a look. Do you think Koss

00:37:59.670 --> 00:38:04.190
Afala would make it? I don't think so. It's so

00:38:04.190 --> 00:38:06.909
hard because there's so many schools and so many

00:38:06.909 --> 00:38:08.969
teams to like quickly run through them in my

00:38:08.969 --> 00:38:12.389
head. The jump from college to U .S. national

00:38:12.389 --> 00:38:16.570
team is large. You have to really separate yourself.

00:38:16.710 --> 00:38:18.349
And again, it's not to say that some of these

00:38:18.349 --> 00:38:20.940
athletes won't get there eventually. But we're

00:38:20.940 --> 00:38:23.159
talking they need to be invited to the gym. They

00:38:23.159 --> 00:38:25.420
need to go play pro. They need to elevate their

00:38:25.420 --> 00:38:27.760
games. Like it's not going to be an L .A. thing.

00:38:27.900 --> 00:38:29.800
Good question. I need to ponder this one a lot

00:38:29.800 --> 00:38:33.460
more. Question two in this category. Can you

00:38:33.460 --> 00:38:36.739
talk about what you like about USC and what is

00:38:36.739 --> 00:38:39.219
working for them slash what they should improve

00:38:39.219 --> 00:38:42.360
on to be a top 16 team? Well, they're almost

00:38:42.360 --> 00:38:44.579
there. They're 17 this week. You guys mentioned

00:38:44.579 --> 00:38:46.539
them now and then. I think this is their best

00:38:46.539 --> 00:38:49.280
performance in recent years. Also, what are your

00:38:49.280 --> 00:38:52.059
thoughts on their middles? So the thing I really

00:38:52.059 --> 00:38:54.840
like about USC is potential. I mean, they're

00:38:54.840 --> 00:38:57.900
inconsistent at best, as we've talked about with

00:38:57.900 --> 00:39:01.159
so many teams in the NCAA. I have seen their

00:39:01.159 --> 00:39:04.940
young players get better and better as they play.

00:39:05.039 --> 00:39:08.429
Their team system has become... more disciplined

00:39:08.429 --> 00:39:11.489
I like what I see in terms of their offensive

00:39:11.489 --> 00:39:14.090
distribution I think they really try and get

00:39:14.090 --> 00:39:16.289
their middles the ball which I also very much

00:39:16.289 --> 00:39:19.090
like their middles are fast and they're high

00:39:19.090 --> 00:39:22.409
and they have quick arms that's what I like they're

00:39:22.409 --> 00:39:25.289
very physical there's a really big window they

00:39:25.289 --> 00:39:28.710
move laterally really well there's a lot of physical

00:39:28.710 --> 00:39:32.119
pieces in place that have high potential to be

00:39:32.119 --> 00:39:34.619
utilized and for them to be very unstoppable

00:39:34.619 --> 00:39:37.159
down the road. The middles are my favorite part

00:39:37.159 --> 00:39:40.300
of USC. Absolutely. They're going to need, their

00:39:40.300 --> 00:39:42.280
libero's not bad either. I believe she's young

00:39:42.280 --> 00:39:44.199
as well. They're going to need to add a piece

00:39:44.199 --> 00:39:46.760
or two on the outside. I wouldn't be surprised

00:39:46.760 --> 00:39:49.340
if there's a few booster dollars going out for

00:39:49.340 --> 00:39:51.639
a left side next year to the transfer portal,

00:39:51.800 --> 00:39:54.139
just for a little bit of stability. I think the

00:39:54.139 --> 00:39:58.619
potential for USC is similar to Stanford. Oregon

00:39:58.619 --> 00:40:01.559
like they have there's a lot of teams out there

00:40:01.559 --> 00:40:04.019
that are loaded with freshmen who've been forced

00:40:04.019 --> 00:40:06.480
into a rebuild that could be serious threats

00:40:06.480 --> 00:40:09.300
in coming years and I think USC could for sure

00:40:09.300 --> 00:40:11.659
be one of them I will also say I've liked what

00:40:11.659 --> 00:40:14.300
I've seen from what the coaching staff is doing

00:40:14.300 --> 00:40:16.280
with them you can see the athletes improving

00:40:16.280 --> 00:40:18.739
you can see what they're working on you can see

00:40:18.739 --> 00:40:22.219
the systems coming into place I just think that

00:40:22.219 --> 00:40:24.480
staff has done a good job with young athletes

00:40:25.099 --> 00:40:27.460
Question three, has Texas reached their ceiling

00:40:27.460 --> 00:40:29.880
due to how Swindle hasn't gotten any better as

00:40:29.880 --> 00:40:33.480
a setter? You guys, I did not write this question.

00:40:33.559 --> 00:40:37.039
I know you think I did. I didn't. I mean, Texas's

00:40:37.039 --> 00:40:40.119
athletes are so physical that their ceiling is

00:40:40.119 --> 00:40:42.539
based off how those players are playing. But

00:40:42.539 --> 00:40:45.340
what do I always say? A mediocre setter can make

00:40:45.340 --> 00:40:49.139
a great team not so hot. And a great setter can

00:40:49.139 --> 00:40:52.619
make a not so hot team very good. I think we're

00:40:52.619 --> 00:40:55.300
seeing option one. What I have seen from Texas

00:40:55.300 --> 00:40:58.559
is teams have figured out that Swindle doesn't

00:40:58.559 --> 00:41:00.800
like to get around balls passed from behind her.

00:41:01.059 --> 00:41:04.239
The side setting. Get your hips around the ball.

00:41:04.380 --> 00:41:07.099
Let's square up every now and then. So what that

00:41:07.099 --> 00:41:09.519
does, though, is it eliminates them being able

00:41:09.519 --> 00:41:12.119
to run the middle effectively. And now teams

00:41:12.119 --> 00:41:15.059
are loading up on the outsides from a block perspective,

00:41:15.239 --> 00:41:18.079
which... makes life miserable for the outside

00:41:18.079 --> 00:41:21.880
hitters? I would say yes. Until she squares and

00:41:21.880 --> 00:41:24.900
can run a good middle from around the attack

00:41:24.900 --> 00:41:28.219
line, I think that's their limiting factor. We've

00:41:28.219 --> 00:41:31.420
talked about Texas's passing, but I think if

00:41:31.420 --> 00:41:33.539
Swindle worked harder to get around the ball,

00:41:33.659 --> 00:41:36.739
she could neutralize the not -so -good passes

00:41:36.739 --> 00:41:39.619
more than she currently is. You know I'm a fan

00:41:39.619 --> 00:41:42.719
of bettering the ball. I think everybody is.

00:41:42.880 --> 00:41:46.480
Swindle very rarely... betters the ball. If the

00:41:46.480 --> 00:41:49.059
pass is good and in front of her, she's a competent

00:41:49.059 --> 00:41:52.400
setter. But she doesn't fix passes when she has

00:41:52.400 --> 00:41:54.699
to run, and I think that that's imperative. And

00:41:54.699 --> 00:41:56.719
conversely, we've talked about how Bergen -Riley

00:41:56.719 --> 00:41:59.099
is setting a good middle ball from off the net,

00:41:59.159 --> 00:42:01.420
and I think that's a big difference between the

00:42:01.420 --> 00:42:04.119
two. I mean, yes, she's 6 '3", but at the end

00:42:04.119 --> 00:42:06.300
of the day, we've talked about how good offenses

00:42:06.300 --> 00:42:08.800
run, and it's finding your hitter's window. Question

00:42:08.800 --> 00:42:17.219
four. This question was loaded. Do that again.

00:42:19.699 --> 00:42:22.659
Question four. You both were so great at telling

00:42:22.659 --> 00:42:25.139
Texas what they need to do to correct their exposed

00:42:25.139 --> 00:42:28.119
problems. How would you improve Kentucky's team

00:42:28.119 --> 00:42:31.099
so that they can possibly beat Nebraska? I know

00:42:31.099 --> 00:42:33.619
you're both very prejudiced towards Nebraska,

00:42:33.719 --> 00:42:36.420
so let's see if you can meet this challenge.

00:42:36.760 --> 00:42:41.639
Okay. Kentucky needs to set somebody other than

00:42:41.639 --> 00:42:43.699
their left side because Nebraska is about to

00:42:43.699 --> 00:42:47.039
munch them up. And you can be great. You can

00:42:47.039 --> 00:42:50.559
be outstanding. But when a defense as good as

00:42:50.559 --> 00:42:53.880
Nebraska's has time to prepare for only two players

00:42:53.880 --> 00:42:57.619
instead of four or five, not great. So let's

00:42:57.619 --> 00:43:00.400
get the middle running a little more. Let's make

00:43:00.400 --> 00:43:04.820
the right side an equal threat. They won't be

00:43:04.820 --> 00:43:07.380
an equal threat to the left sides. The game plan

00:43:07.380 --> 00:43:11.039
against Kentucky is... Double block outside all

00:43:11.039 --> 00:43:13.139
the time. And make the middles and right side

00:43:13.139 --> 00:43:15.880
beat you. And see if they can do it. Do not leave

00:43:15.880 --> 00:43:18.840
the left sides with a single block ever. React

00:43:18.840 --> 00:43:21.800
to the other hitters. Nebraska will do that well.

00:43:21.960 --> 00:43:25.139
Unless Carr can score. Unless whichever right

00:43:25.139 --> 00:43:26.659
side is playing. I think they're playing mostly

00:43:26.659 --> 00:43:29.739
thick pen now. Or Daly. Or Daly. Whichever one.

00:43:29.880 --> 00:43:31.659
Like they need to be able to set them and score.

00:43:31.940 --> 00:43:33.920
They almost need to not set the left side in

00:43:33.920 --> 00:43:36.099
the first set. And make Nebraska look and go,

00:43:36.219 --> 00:43:39.239
wait a second. Now we need to reset. I do like

00:43:39.239 --> 00:43:41.679
how Kentucky is mixing in a lot more short serves,

00:43:41.800 --> 00:43:43.559
though. I think that could be an interesting

00:43:43.559 --> 00:43:47.719
tactic against Nebraska, particularly if they're

00:43:47.719 --> 00:43:50.780
using it to take out a middle. I think their

00:43:50.780 --> 00:43:53.559
serving strategy is one of the more interesting

00:43:53.559 --> 00:43:58.099
ones I've seen recently. They're more creative

00:43:58.099 --> 00:44:01.159
than a lot of teams from the service line. If

00:44:01.159 --> 00:44:02.920
we're talking about straight improvements they

00:44:02.920 --> 00:44:05.579
need to make, you're too predictable. Skinner

00:44:05.579 --> 00:44:07.769
knows. They need to run a more balanced offense.

00:44:07.869 --> 00:44:10.530
He says that time and time again, and they don't.

00:44:10.530 --> 00:44:12.190
And I don't think they pass particularly poorly.

00:44:12.409 --> 00:44:14.250
I think they have lots of opportunity to run

00:44:14.250 --> 00:44:16.269
the middle. I think that the left sides have

00:44:16.269 --> 00:44:18.570
become a safety blanket for the setter. Mind

00:44:18.570 --> 00:44:20.949
you, I think she's a freshman. She is. I get

00:44:20.949 --> 00:44:24.530
that, but you got three weeks to build that middle

00:44:24.530 --> 00:44:27.070
connection with the freshie. Otherwise, it's

00:44:27.070 --> 00:44:29.550
not going to go well come Final Four time. And

00:44:29.550 --> 00:44:31.710
Nebraska doesn't forget that they almost lost

00:44:31.710 --> 00:44:33.210
to Kentucky in a five at the beginning of the

00:44:33.210 --> 00:44:35.210
season. Like, they're not about to mess around.

00:44:35.630 --> 00:44:37.670
Okay, last question in this section. I was wondering

00:44:37.670 --> 00:44:39.469
if you guys could talk about why Jared Elliott

00:44:39.469 --> 00:44:42.030
wouldn't sub in one of the other outsides like

00:44:42.030 --> 00:44:45.449
Whitney Lowenstein for Abby VanderWaal in the

00:44:45.449 --> 00:44:48.769
matches against A &M or Kentucky. We had these

00:44:48.769 --> 00:44:52.469
questions about Wisconsin. I think certain coaches

00:44:52.469 --> 00:44:56.269
just have their system and they do not change.

00:44:56.369 --> 00:44:58.130
And even one of the earlier questions about John

00:44:58.130 --> 00:45:00.050
Cook, he used six to eight players, didn't make

00:45:00.050 --> 00:45:02.130
changes. The thing that these coaches have in

00:45:02.130 --> 00:45:05.969
common are their era. They're not one of the

00:45:05.969 --> 00:45:09.710
young DBK or Dan Meske age group. They're the

00:45:09.710 --> 00:45:13.329
old guard. Yeah. Stepping back from that, I agree

00:45:13.329 --> 00:45:14.969
with what you're saying. I'm going to make a

00:45:14.969 --> 00:45:17.210
case for why they didn't so that we have another

00:45:17.210 --> 00:45:19.510
opinion. Yes, absolutely. She's a first -year

00:45:19.510 --> 00:45:22.909
player. Her ceiling is very high. You know you're

00:45:22.909 --> 00:45:26.610
going to need her to perform in the Final Four,

00:45:26.730 --> 00:45:29.610
in the tournament in general, if you're going

00:45:29.610 --> 00:45:33.400
to win. And there's no better way to learn how

00:45:33.400 --> 00:45:35.780
to deal with those situations than to be in it

00:45:35.780 --> 00:45:37.800
and have to figure it out. I don't think that's

00:45:37.800 --> 00:45:39.800
Jared Elliott's thought process. I'm not saying

00:45:39.800 --> 00:45:43.380
it is. I'm saying you could make... I don't think

00:45:43.380 --> 00:45:46.460
he cares at all about that. With how they play

00:45:46.460 --> 00:45:49.320
the transfer game, it's like he is looking to

00:45:49.320 --> 00:45:52.719
win just today. Yeah, but today is this tournament.

00:45:52.840 --> 00:45:54.579
I'm not talking four years down the road. No,

00:45:54.800 --> 00:45:56.920
I mean like today, like this match. That would

00:45:56.920 --> 00:45:59.880
be my case for leaving her in. If that's your

00:45:59.880 --> 00:46:01.679
thought process long term for the tournament,

00:46:01.900 --> 00:46:05.900
it's not a bad one because you're playing at

00:46:05.900 --> 00:46:07.800
a new level, new experiences, new challenges.

00:46:07.820 --> 00:46:10.179
Go back, watch the film, talk about your decision

00:46:10.179 --> 00:46:13.239
making. All of that, I think, can be justified

00:46:13.239 --> 00:46:15.860
if you're thinking about it. The other thing

00:46:15.860 --> 00:46:19.280
I will say, and I've noticed this, is I feel

00:46:19.280 --> 00:46:23.260
like a lot of coaches just look at stats and

00:46:23.260 --> 00:46:26.960
have no feel for the game or for their players

00:46:26.960 --> 00:46:29.480
or for what's happening. I see it all the time.

00:46:29.500 --> 00:46:31.280
Head coaches are going to the stats guy, and

00:46:31.280 --> 00:46:33.079
that's a good thing. I'm a stats guy. I like

00:46:33.079 --> 00:46:36.559
that. But you have to marry what you're seeing

00:46:36.559 --> 00:46:38.659
on the floor. If a player's having a bad game

00:46:38.659 --> 00:46:41.159
because she didn't sleep well or something else,

00:46:41.179 --> 00:46:42.320
you're not going to work through that. You've

00:46:42.320 --> 00:46:44.380
got to pull that player off, put somebody else

00:46:44.380 --> 00:46:47.300
in, give your team a chance to win. I think there's

00:46:47.300 --> 00:46:49.639
a disconnect sometimes between coaches and what's

00:46:49.639 --> 00:46:52.679
happening, and they rely too much on stats. Okay,

00:46:52.800 --> 00:46:55.960
so that's the end of all the other NCAA teams

00:46:55.960 --> 00:46:59.760
for questions. Moving on, we have a few questions

00:46:59.760 --> 00:47:03.119
about volleyball tactics. Perfect. Love this.

00:47:03.300 --> 00:47:05.860
So we'll go over these and we'll see what people

00:47:05.860 --> 00:47:08.539
have written in. Can you go over into more detail

00:47:08.539 --> 00:47:12.460
as to why, in your opinion, teams don't really

00:47:12.460 --> 00:47:15.199
run more pipes in the collegiate women's game?

00:47:15.559 --> 00:47:18.920
I'm always puzzled by this. I'm a Stanford fan

00:47:18.920 --> 00:47:22.260
and I can recount on one hand the number of times

00:47:22.260 --> 00:47:24.559
Stanford has run a pipe in the last few years.

00:47:27.230 --> 00:47:30.090
don't think athletes can run the pipe. Specifically,

00:47:30.190 --> 00:47:33.210
I'm thinking about Elia Rubin. Why do you think

00:47:33.210 --> 00:47:35.329
college coaches don't like to include the pipe

00:47:35.329 --> 00:47:37.809
in their offense? It's a very good question because

00:47:37.809 --> 00:47:40.309
it's an incredibly useful set. I think it's run

00:47:40.309 --> 00:47:44.650
properly. By run properly, I mean let the girls

00:47:44.650 --> 00:47:48.849
jump. Do not set it at the attack line. Set it

00:47:48.849 --> 00:47:51.489
way in front of the attack line and let them

00:47:51.489 --> 00:47:55.579
go get it. But you don't see a ton of setters

00:47:55.579 --> 00:47:58.639
run it properly. And there's no reason that you

00:47:58.639 --> 00:48:01.880
can't run it properly. Correct. Which is the

00:48:01.880 --> 00:48:06.500
thing I don't understand. I totally agree that

00:48:06.500 --> 00:48:08.639
Elia Rubin could hit a really good back row ball.

00:48:09.139 --> 00:48:12.960
I also think, against Dan Metzky's thought process,

00:48:13.179 --> 00:48:16.099
that Chacoin could also hit a good back row ball.

00:48:16.199 --> 00:48:20.539
The goal of the back row ball, if you can jump...

00:48:21.269 --> 00:48:24.190
forward at all and keep that ball in front of

00:48:24.190 --> 00:48:28.929
you you don't have to be overly physical to make

00:48:28.929 --> 00:48:31.949
that attack work especially if there's lots of

00:48:31.949 --> 00:48:33.230
other players in the front row and you're not

00:48:33.230 --> 00:48:35.610
getting a three -man block if you're using it

00:48:35.610 --> 00:48:38.449
as an out of system set becomes much harder but

00:48:38.449 --> 00:48:41.469
if you're in system it can be highly effective

00:48:41.469 --> 00:48:44.150
well the other thing is like a lot of teams take

00:48:44.150 --> 00:48:47.090
their right side out of the back row and so it

00:48:47.090 --> 00:48:50.389
eliminates the Back row ball that can be used

00:48:50.389 --> 00:48:54.489
in conjunction with a slide or as a third attack

00:48:54.489 --> 00:48:57.110
option if your middle isn't good at running a

00:48:57.110 --> 00:49:00.530
slide, keeping them in front. And you see a lot

00:49:00.530 --> 00:49:05.030
of DSs come in for certain left sides. I agree

00:49:05.030 --> 00:49:07.590
with what Adam's saying, and I think it needs

00:49:07.590 --> 00:49:09.769
to be implemented more, and I find it incredibly

00:49:09.769 --> 00:49:12.889
effective when it is. But I think the NCAA substitution

00:49:12.889 --> 00:49:16.789
rule has kind of made it so that it just can't

00:49:16.789 --> 00:49:19.440
be run. That's a good point, but I do think there

00:49:19.440 --> 00:49:22.360
are enough athletes who are in the back row and

00:49:22.360 --> 00:49:25.559
playing. Oh, I am not. I'm not disagreeing with

00:49:25.559 --> 00:49:29.059
you at all. I think it needs to be used more,

00:49:29.260 --> 00:49:33.039
especially if you have a hitter that run a middle

00:49:33.039 --> 00:49:34.900
hitter that runs well in front of the setter.

00:49:34.980 --> 00:49:37.960
So effective. And Stanford does have some middles

00:49:37.960 --> 00:49:41.519
that can do that. Running a pipe over top of

00:49:41.519 --> 00:49:43.760
your middle in front and overloading the block

00:49:43.760 --> 00:49:46.440
like we talked about a couple weeks ago. Unstoppable.

00:49:47.099 --> 00:49:50.659
I think that coaches miss the depth of the set.

00:49:50.739 --> 00:49:53.000
I think they see it at the attack line or behind

00:49:53.000 --> 00:49:56.420
and it doesn't score. You really need to watch

00:49:56.420 --> 00:49:59.159
where that ball is being contacted in relation

00:49:59.159 --> 00:50:02.320
to the attack line to understand if the set is

00:50:02.320 --> 00:50:04.300
good. You have to be standing there and watching

00:50:04.300 --> 00:50:06.980
and maybe you don't see that angle very often.

00:50:07.139 --> 00:50:09.420
Well, and for listeners who might not be aware,

00:50:09.599 --> 00:50:14.750
on a back row ball, you need to... take off for

00:50:14.750 --> 00:50:17.630
your jump behind the attack line but you can

00:50:17.630 --> 00:50:20.650
land so far in front of the attack line and most

00:50:20.650 --> 00:50:23.150
of these girls are physical enough and jump well

00:50:23.150 --> 00:50:28.550
enough now that the ball can be set halfway between

00:50:28.550 --> 00:50:31.130
the net and the attack line and they can make

00:50:31.130 --> 00:50:34.449
great contact personally I much preferred hitting

00:50:34.449 --> 00:50:39.500
from the back row because It just opened things

00:50:39.500 --> 00:50:42.199
up so much. And when the ball is led like that

00:50:42.199 --> 00:50:44.780
and you're able to jump forward, you can just

00:50:44.780 --> 00:50:48.599
put so much on it and do so much with it. Set

00:50:48.599 --> 00:50:50.760
more pipe balls. Keep your right sides in for

00:50:50.760 --> 00:50:52.619
six rotations so they can be effective in the

00:50:52.619 --> 00:50:55.840
back row too. Just a thought. A question on defense.

00:50:56.239 --> 00:50:58.460
People say a good libero is one that you don't

00:50:58.460 --> 00:51:00.599
notice. Does that mean if liberos are picked

00:51:00.599 --> 00:51:03.659
for a dream team, you take the ones no one has

00:51:03.659 --> 00:51:06.360
noticed the whole tournament? Or what is the

00:51:06.360 --> 00:51:09.480
main criteria there? To me, this question is

00:51:09.480 --> 00:51:14.000
a little cheeky. A little cheeky, yeah. I'm not

00:51:14.000 --> 00:51:17.780
opposed to it. I like a little sass. Yeah. Liberos

00:51:17.780 --> 00:51:21.300
are allowed to make spectacular digs. You can

00:51:21.300 --> 00:51:25.360
notice a libero do a great cover, make a sprawling

00:51:25.360 --> 00:51:29.000
dig. If you know the game and you watch, you

00:51:29.000 --> 00:51:33.019
see them covering seams. You see them... passing

00:51:33.019 --> 00:51:36.119
a ton of court making sure the offense is in

00:51:36.119 --> 00:51:40.159
rhythm directing the defense setting well out

00:51:40.159 --> 00:51:42.920
of system like all of those things and for people

00:51:42.920 --> 00:51:46.420
who are generally choosing these awards for dream

00:51:46.420 --> 00:51:49.019
teams they're paying attention to those things

00:51:49.019 --> 00:51:52.780
while the average viewer might look at the spectacular

00:51:52.780 --> 00:51:55.280
sprawling dig and go man that libero is great

00:51:55.280 --> 00:51:58.360
generally the people picking the awards understand

00:51:59.480 --> 00:52:02.300
what makes that person in that position good,

00:52:02.420 --> 00:52:05.300
and those players are getting awarded. As a casual

00:52:05.300 --> 00:52:08.880
viewer, if a team is targeting the libero on

00:52:08.880 --> 00:52:12.219
server C, that is not a good thing. Your libero

00:52:12.219 --> 00:52:14.800
should be able to pass well enough that teams

00:52:14.800 --> 00:52:18.340
don't want to serve them. Obviously, when people

00:52:18.340 --> 00:52:21.599
are attacking, it's not... I know announcers

00:52:21.599 --> 00:52:23.340
say that it's a thought process, but I'm going

00:52:23.340 --> 00:52:25.300
to say that it's not really a thought process

00:52:25.300 --> 00:52:27.179
of like, oh, I don't want to hit the ball to

00:52:27.179 --> 00:52:30.059
this player. No. You're seeing the block. You're

00:52:30.059 --> 00:52:31.300
hitting around the block. You're seeing where

00:52:31.300 --> 00:52:33.639
the defense moves. You're hitting to holes. If

00:52:33.639 --> 00:52:35.539
you're capable of doing that. Otherwise, you're

00:52:35.539 --> 00:52:38.320
just like avoiding the block. You're not actively

00:52:38.320 --> 00:52:41.380
trying not to hit to liberos, which drives me

00:52:41.380 --> 00:52:44.179
crazy when announcers say that. Stop it. I would

00:52:44.179 --> 00:52:46.519
say you're not noticing liberos because like

00:52:46.519 --> 00:52:48.940
when they do pass, they're passing well or they're

00:52:48.940 --> 00:52:50.579
not getting served and they're just extending

00:52:50.579 --> 00:52:53.380
rallies. So I played volleyball in college in

00:52:53.380 --> 00:52:57.309
Chicago and USAV for 15 years after. So I. do

00:52:57.309 --> 00:52:59.829
know the game well and I still study to this

00:52:59.829 --> 00:53:03.010
day. Please explain to me why blockers can see

00:53:03.010 --> 00:53:05.750
hitters starting their approach nearly parallel

00:53:05.750 --> 00:53:09.050
to the net and have only one option to hit hard

00:53:09.050 --> 00:53:12.070
angle, but the blockers jump straight up in front

00:53:12.070 --> 00:53:15.150
of them. This drives me crazy. Why don't they

00:53:15.150 --> 00:53:18.030
block hard angle? It happens all the time in

00:53:18.030 --> 00:53:20.769
the college game. Not intentionally. Do the coaches

00:53:20.769 --> 00:53:25.789
ever point this out? I mean, totally valid. This

00:53:25.789 --> 00:53:29.059
comes back. to eye work. I think you would be

00:53:29.059 --> 00:53:32.900
so shocked at how many college players watch

00:53:32.900 --> 00:53:35.820
the ball when they're blocking. Here's a fun

00:53:35.820 --> 00:53:38.079
little experiment for all of you who love watching

00:53:38.079 --> 00:53:41.460
volleyball. Pick a player who is blocking and

00:53:41.460 --> 00:53:43.940
watch their, don't watch the ball, watch their

00:53:43.940 --> 00:53:47.400
head. Watch where the head goes as the ball is

00:53:47.400 --> 00:53:49.360
being passed and moved around on the other side

00:53:49.360 --> 00:53:53.019
of the court and you will know exactly what they're

00:53:53.019 --> 00:53:55.619
paying attention to. And for all of the blockers

00:53:55.619 --> 00:53:58.639
whose hitters blow by them into the angle, they're

00:53:58.639 --> 00:54:01.119
watching the ball, plain and simple. They don't

00:54:01.119 --> 00:54:04.239
even look at the hitter. It's blocking fundamentals

00:54:04.239 --> 00:54:07.579
101. If you're an outside hitter, I would say

00:54:07.579 --> 00:54:10.280
this isn't necessarily the middle's responsibility

00:54:10.280 --> 00:54:13.539
because they are trying to close to the outside.

00:54:14.039 --> 00:54:16.840
And they've got so many things to watch. I would

00:54:16.840 --> 00:54:19.659
say that in situations like this, it is predominantly

00:54:19.659 --> 00:54:22.699
the outside hitter's responsibility because...

00:54:23.159 --> 00:54:26.280
They are the ones who need to find where their

00:54:26.280 --> 00:54:28.820
hitter is, if they're coming inside, what their

00:54:28.820 --> 00:54:31.440
angle is, whatever, and set the block for the

00:54:31.440 --> 00:54:34.599
middle to close. If the outside is following

00:54:34.599 --> 00:54:36.719
the play and isn't paying attention to their

00:54:36.719 --> 00:54:38.719
hitter, that is when you see them so far out

00:54:38.719 --> 00:54:41.320
of position, they get embarrassed on certain

00:54:41.320 --> 00:54:45.780
plays. But yes, if a player is coming with their,

00:54:45.880 --> 00:54:48.460
like, let's say your left side hitter and your

00:54:48.460 --> 00:54:53.130
left shoulder is towards the net. and your whole

00:54:53.130 --> 00:54:55.829
body is facing your setter, you are not going

00:54:55.829 --> 00:54:58.710
to hit line with an immense amount of power.

00:54:59.389 --> 00:55:02.710
So yeah, in that scenario, the blockers should

00:55:02.710 --> 00:55:06.429
drop their hands into the angle. But I'm also

00:55:06.429 --> 00:55:09.510
shocked at how I don't know what coaches are

00:55:09.510 --> 00:55:11.630
watching. There are some coaches, obviously,

00:55:11.630 --> 00:55:13.610
that are very good at making adjustments. But

00:55:13.610 --> 00:55:15.570
there are some games I'm watching and the same

00:55:15.570 --> 00:55:17.730
thing is happening. And I'm like, are the coaches

00:55:17.730 --> 00:55:20.250
not noticing this? Like, why are they not telling

00:55:20.250 --> 00:55:24.320
their players to do? So I would say, no, the

00:55:24.320 --> 00:55:26.539
coaches probably aren't telling them that because

00:55:26.539 --> 00:55:31.179
either they aren't great at noticing things live

00:55:31.179 --> 00:55:34.019
or they're watching so many other things that

00:55:34.019 --> 00:55:36.900
it's just not on their radar. I'm going to get

00:55:36.900 --> 00:55:40.320
on my soapbox for one second. I can't wait. Adam's

00:55:40.320 --> 00:55:43.619
going to be so nice. His soapbox is a nice one.

00:55:45.980 --> 00:55:50.900
Gold plated. I think blocking is the worst taught

00:55:50.900 --> 00:55:54.420
skill. in volleyball almost at any level. The

00:55:54.420 --> 00:55:56.719
other thing that I think that is done incredibly

00:55:56.719 --> 00:55:59.099
poorly, and you'll see almost every team do this,

00:55:59.179 --> 00:56:02.380
every team has a blocking warm -up or a blocking

00:56:02.380 --> 00:56:05.320
drill that they do in practice where you jump

00:56:05.320 --> 00:56:07.300
in the middle and then the outside shuffle out

00:56:07.300 --> 00:56:09.019
and then you come back and you jump in the middle

00:56:09.019 --> 00:56:11.119
and then the middle and the outside go out. And

00:56:11.119 --> 00:56:13.239
you know what they're doing? They're doing mindless

00:56:13.239 --> 00:56:15.500
reps. And you know what they're looking at? Absolutely

00:56:15.500 --> 00:56:19.539
nothing. I will bet you that 90 to 95 % of teams

00:56:19.539 --> 00:56:23.059
train blocking with no decision making. Meaning

00:56:23.059 --> 00:56:24.760
they're going through the motions and they know

00:56:24.760 --> 00:56:26.260
where the ball is going to go or they know where

00:56:26.260 --> 00:56:28.559
they're supposed to be. And you're not thinking,

00:56:28.639 --> 00:56:30.820
you're not looking at a setter, you're not watching

00:56:30.820 --> 00:56:35.059
a pass. You're not connecting the situation to

00:56:35.059 --> 00:56:37.780
what skill you're supposed to do. And we do that

00:56:37.780 --> 00:56:39.860
in almost every other skill. And I don't know

00:56:39.860 --> 00:56:43.340
why it's not done. And this is why you see athletes

00:56:43.340 --> 00:56:45.599
just going to a position and doing a block is

00:56:45.599 --> 00:56:48.079
because that's what they train. In my opinion,

00:56:48.219 --> 00:56:51.300
blocking is just not trained properly. It's not

00:56:51.300 --> 00:56:54.059
connected with decision making the majority of

00:56:54.059 --> 00:56:57.780
the time. And that's how Adam sees it. Oh, interesting

00:56:57.780 --> 00:57:00.559
question. Okay. How do players consistently and

00:57:00.559 --> 00:57:02.900
effectively tool the block? Is there a special

00:57:02.900 --> 00:57:05.219
technique that allows them to do that? Is it

00:57:05.219 --> 00:57:07.750
their approach, their arm swing? Their wrist

00:57:07.750 --> 00:57:10.349
angle when they hit the ball is a skill you can

00:57:10.349 --> 00:57:12.429
train or is it just a feature of the game based

00:57:12.429 --> 00:57:14.750
off what you're seeing? And finally, do you think

00:57:14.750 --> 00:57:16.769
being able to tool the block with this much ease

00:57:16.769 --> 00:57:19.769
is more promising for a future pro career rather

00:57:19.769 --> 00:57:22.150
than someone who's just a straight power hitter?

00:57:23.070 --> 00:57:25.829
I was never prolific at tooling the block. That's

00:57:25.829 --> 00:57:28.469
not true. So I'm probably not the player to ask

00:57:28.469 --> 00:57:32.630
about this. I will say when you get to a high

00:57:32.630 --> 00:57:34.670
enough level, just straight hitting with power,

00:57:34.809 --> 00:57:37.929
like it doesn't matter. The defenses are so good

00:57:37.929 --> 00:57:41.329
that you can hit it so hard and you'll get scooped

00:57:41.329 --> 00:57:43.969
like crazy. Yes, being able to use the block

00:57:43.969 --> 00:57:50.329
effectively will be an asset for later in your

00:57:50.329 --> 00:57:54.489
career or whatever. Hitting the block. A, you

00:57:54.489 --> 00:57:58.389
need to see the block. And it all comes back

00:57:58.389 --> 00:58:01.590
to vision. But I would say it involves a lot

00:58:01.590 --> 00:58:04.929
of wrist work. You see players who just try to

00:58:04.929 --> 00:58:07.280
hit with power and like, Sometimes they tool

00:58:07.280 --> 00:58:10.599
the block, but it hits the ground so hard that

00:58:10.599 --> 00:58:12.699
they're not doing that on purpose. When you see

00:58:12.699 --> 00:58:14.780
somebody hit the ball so hard and it looks like

00:58:14.780 --> 00:58:16.659
it's going to be a block, but it just misses

00:58:16.659 --> 00:58:19.119
the sideline. They did not intend for that to

00:58:19.119 --> 00:58:21.320
happen. They got lucky. Same thing if the ball

00:58:21.320 --> 00:58:24.780
like squeaks between a hitter's hands and goes

00:58:24.780 --> 00:58:26.760
to the floor on their side. A blocker's hands?

00:58:26.880 --> 00:58:29.559
Yeah. Not intentional. Not intentional. The ones

00:58:29.559 --> 00:58:31.480
that are intentional are the ones that are going.

00:58:32.349 --> 00:58:35.409
Oh, the sideline, like this question was referring

00:58:35.409 --> 00:58:38.849
to Brooklyn Delay and Eva Hudson and how much

00:58:38.849 --> 00:58:41.949
they do it. Or high out the back of the court.

00:58:42.110 --> 00:58:45.889
And basically, you're not changing anything.

00:58:46.449 --> 00:58:49.750
You are making your swing. The people who do

00:58:49.750 --> 00:58:53.530
it best are the ones who are swinging high, deep

00:58:53.530 --> 00:58:55.750
into the perimeter of the court. And if you're

00:58:55.750 --> 00:58:58.929
doing that and you're hitting high, if it does

00:58:58.929 --> 00:59:01.170
contact the block, you're getting a favorable

00:59:01.170 --> 00:59:03.690
bounce. Similarly to if you're hitting down the

00:59:03.690 --> 00:59:06.369
line, if you use your wrist to hit down the line,

00:59:06.489 --> 00:59:09.409
you're going for a good swing. But if it hits

00:59:09.409 --> 00:59:11.769
the block, it will deflect because of the spin

00:59:11.769 --> 00:59:13.989
you put on the ball with your wrist. So I would

00:59:13.989 --> 00:59:16.769
say that, yes, it works in people's favor and

00:59:16.769 --> 00:59:20.449
you see certain players be more successful or

00:59:20.449 --> 00:59:24.289
do it more often than others. But my opinion

00:59:24.289 --> 00:59:29.650
is that they are just making good swings that

00:59:29.650 --> 00:59:31.269
happen to hit the block. But it is something

00:59:31.269 --> 00:59:33.579
you can train. Okay, the last question in our

00:59:33.579 --> 00:59:37.440
tactics section is how does a right -handed opposite

00:59:37.440 --> 00:59:41.139
struggle so much to hit on the left side? Or

00:59:41.139 --> 00:59:43.099
maybe not even struggle so much, but you can

00:59:43.099 --> 00:59:45.739
just tell they aren't as comfortable hitting

00:59:45.739 --> 00:59:49.840
on the left, which everything would say a right

00:59:49.840 --> 00:59:51.719
-hander should be more comfortable hitting on

00:59:51.719 --> 00:59:54.039
the left side. And a left -handed hitter should

00:59:54.039 --> 00:59:55.780
be more comfortable hitting on the right side.

00:59:55.940 --> 01:00:00.119
For me, I believe it happens to be about where

01:00:00.119 --> 01:00:04.579
you generally... contact the ball and what you

01:00:04.579 --> 01:00:07.679
see. So when you're on your, we'll call it your

01:00:07.679 --> 01:00:10.480
opposite side. So a right -handed right side

01:00:10.480 --> 01:00:13.519
or a left -handed left side, the ball has to

01:00:13.519 --> 01:00:16.280
come across your body and you're following it

01:00:16.280 --> 01:00:18.380
with your eyes, which means you have a little

01:00:18.380 --> 01:00:21.199
bit more time to see the block, to see where

01:00:21.199 --> 01:00:23.599
the ball is as it's coming across. And you can

01:00:23.599 --> 01:00:25.300
kind of cut it off or wait and come down the

01:00:25.300 --> 01:00:27.360
line. There's that trajectory of the ball crossing

01:00:27.360 --> 01:00:29.639
the plane of your shoulder before you hit it.

01:00:30.030 --> 01:00:33.309
When you switch to the other side, now you're

01:00:33.309 --> 01:00:35.969
really reaching out in front of you to hit that

01:00:35.969 --> 01:00:39.170
hard angle swing. And that can be an uncomfortable

01:00:39.170 --> 01:00:42.449
motion because you're used to waiting for the

01:00:42.449 --> 01:00:45.369
ball to come across your body. And if you do

01:00:45.369 --> 01:00:48.289
that on your dominant side, you're allowing the

01:00:48.289 --> 01:00:50.510
block to come into play because the ball is probably

01:00:50.510 --> 01:00:53.170
dropping or you're losing your ability to hit

01:00:53.170 --> 01:00:55.739
angle as it gets closer and closer to you. So

01:00:55.739 --> 01:00:58.460
for me, I think it's more difficult for hitters

01:00:58.460 --> 01:01:01.460
because you wait so long for the ball and your

01:01:01.460 --> 01:01:04.260
timing of your swing is, it's just visually different

01:01:04.260 --> 01:01:06.500
for you as to when you need to contact that ball.

01:01:06.719 --> 01:01:08.900
We don't generally answer these, so we figured

01:01:08.900 --> 01:01:10.619
this was a good chance to do this, but there's

01:01:10.619 --> 01:01:13.059
been a whole bunch of personal general questions.

01:01:13.659 --> 01:01:16.340
Most of them are for Sarah, rightly so. So we'll

01:01:16.340 --> 01:01:17.920
tee them up and we'll see what she has to say.

01:01:18.250 --> 01:01:20.670
did people doubt you more when you started playing

01:01:20.670 --> 01:01:23.110
beach because you were coming from playing opposite

01:01:23.110 --> 01:01:25.570
also what was the transition like in general

01:01:25.570 --> 01:01:28.329
i .e training and the strategies you had to learn

01:01:28.329 --> 01:01:32.309
i'm not sure if people doubted me more because

01:01:32.309 --> 01:01:35.130
i was an opposite or because i was just an indoor

01:01:35.130 --> 01:01:38.809
player the number of beach only people that told

01:01:38.809 --> 01:01:41.289
me that i would never make it on the beach because

01:01:41.289 --> 01:01:44.349
i'm an indoor player i don't know how to think

01:01:44.349 --> 01:01:47.820
for myself Blah, blah, blah was shocking. As

01:01:47.820 --> 01:01:50.500
an opposite, obviously, I didn't pass for a lot

01:01:50.500 --> 01:01:53.639
of my career. I did pass in college for a couple

01:01:53.639 --> 01:01:55.820
of years, believe it or not. I think Adam responded

01:01:55.820 --> 01:01:58.380
to a comment about that the other day. Nobody

01:01:58.380 --> 01:02:00.659
ever really said anything because I was an opposite,

01:02:00.840 --> 01:02:03.380
but comments were definitely made because I was

01:02:03.380 --> 01:02:05.320
an indoor player. And I would say that beach

01:02:05.320 --> 01:02:07.179
players definitely have a chip on their shoulder

01:02:07.179 --> 01:02:10.099
about. how they can make adjustments because

01:02:10.099 --> 01:02:12.099
they don't have a coach on the court where as

01:02:12.099 --> 01:02:14.079
indoor players are just told what to do. And

01:02:14.079 --> 01:02:16.940
I think to a certain extent, sure, that's true.

01:02:17.039 --> 01:02:19.159
But once you reach a certain level, I think that

01:02:19.159 --> 01:02:22.159
that's complete bogus nonsense. The transition

01:02:22.159 --> 01:02:26.539
like in Japan, it was humbling. I cried a lot.

01:02:26.719 --> 01:02:29.340
True story. I was naive enough to think that

01:02:29.340 --> 01:02:33.280
beach was indoor, played outside. They are two

01:02:33.280 --> 01:02:35.820
completely different sports. And for the first

01:02:35.820 --> 01:02:39.880
time in forever, I was forced to consciously

01:02:39.880 --> 01:02:44.360
think about how to perform skills. And these

01:02:44.360 --> 01:02:47.139
things had been second nature to me for so long.

01:02:47.280 --> 01:02:51.280
So going back to literally basics and having

01:02:51.280 --> 01:02:54.019
to think through things that I haven't had to

01:02:54.019 --> 01:02:57.219
think through for so long was interesting. Yeah,

01:02:57.260 --> 01:03:00.480
the transition is hard. Having to completely

01:03:00.480 --> 01:03:04.809
rewire my brain for blocking, for approach. style

01:03:04.809 --> 01:03:09.269
for serving set like it was just it was a lot

01:03:09.269 --> 01:03:14.429
and I almost walked away many times but I'm glad

01:03:14.429 --> 01:03:16.570
I stuck with it helped me achieve a couple big

01:03:16.570 --> 01:03:19.650
goals I had what are some reasons that you and

01:03:19.650 --> 01:03:22.090
or other players switch pro teams what are some

01:03:22.090 --> 01:03:24.050
draws for an athlete to sign with a different

01:03:24.050 --> 01:03:27.829
club aside from financial reasons oh man I think

01:03:27.829 --> 01:03:30.980
there are several reasons I mean Lifestyle is

01:03:30.980 --> 01:03:33.480
a big lifestyle is a big one. Playing professional

01:03:33.480 --> 01:03:36.260
volleyball overseas is a chance for you to be

01:03:36.260 --> 01:03:40.219
immersed in cultures in a way that you wouldn't

01:03:40.219 --> 01:03:43.800
otherwise be able to in ways that just traveling

01:03:43.800 --> 01:03:47.239
or vacationing just it can't do the same thing.

01:03:47.300 --> 01:03:50.420
So I think exploring different countries is a

01:03:50.420 --> 01:03:53.340
huge part of it. I think, you know, sometimes

01:03:53.340 --> 01:03:59.099
there are management conflicts that. you want

01:03:59.099 --> 01:04:01.159
to avoid or you don't want to deal with again

01:04:01.159 --> 01:04:05.760
or you know there might be staffing things for

01:04:05.760 --> 01:04:08.400
a team that are you've worked with a coach or

01:04:08.400 --> 01:04:10.860
a staff before they've moved you want to go with

01:04:10.860 --> 01:04:14.360
them there could be strength of team how successful

01:04:14.360 --> 01:04:18.239
the team is playing opportunities for like champions

01:04:18.239 --> 01:04:21.699
league or club world championships or things

01:04:21.699 --> 01:04:25.099
like that there are so many options I've known

01:04:25.099 --> 01:04:29.820
women to go because they want to play with their

01:04:29.820 --> 01:04:33.639
partner. There are so many reasons why people

01:04:33.639 --> 01:04:35.699
would switch teams aside from financial ones.

01:04:35.940 --> 01:04:38.019
I was wondering about your relationships in college

01:04:38.019 --> 01:04:40.219
and during pro. Are you very close with people

01:04:40.219 --> 01:04:43.380
at those levels and does college to pro change

01:04:43.380 --> 01:04:46.159
the basis of those relationships? Social media

01:04:46.159 --> 01:04:48.599
presents college athletics as a found family

01:04:48.599 --> 01:04:51.260
with the girls being very close given that they

01:04:51.260 --> 01:04:53.559
spend eight hours a day together. However, does

01:04:53.559 --> 01:04:56.860
that closeness continue to carry over into adulthood?

01:04:57.559 --> 01:05:00.900
I can't really speak to how it is now because

01:05:00.900 --> 01:05:04.860
I think with the transfer portal and how much

01:05:04.860 --> 01:05:07.920
in and out there is from programs and the NIL

01:05:07.920 --> 01:05:12.900
where there is a discrepancy in how athletes

01:05:12.900 --> 01:05:17.639
are compensated, I'm sure that introduces much

01:05:17.639 --> 01:05:20.440
more complicated dynamics than when I played

01:05:20.440 --> 01:05:25.579
in college. But when I played in college, Yes,

01:05:25.579 --> 01:05:29.039
those relationships, it was like a second family

01:05:29.039 --> 01:05:33.679
and those girls were my best friends. And I think

01:05:33.679 --> 01:05:36.340
that is part of the beauty of college athletics

01:05:36.340 --> 01:05:40.219
at that time is just we weren't being paid. We

01:05:40.219 --> 01:05:43.519
were playing strictly for the love of the game

01:05:43.519 --> 01:05:48.059
and for each other. And I think that there is

01:05:48.059 --> 01:05:51.880
something so pure and that is the essence of

01:05:51.880 --> 01:05:57.579
sport. So I would say in my experience, I was

01:05:57.579 --> 01:05:59.920
always much closer with my college teammates

01:05:59.920 --> 01:06:02.460
than my professional ones, because professionally,

01:06:02.659 --> 01:06:06.980
you're all just in different. parts of life.

01:06:07.159 --> 01:06:09.960
Like I went to a team at 21 and I was playing

01:06:09.960 --> 01:06:12.639
with 35 year olds. What do we have in common?

01:06:12.780 --> 01:06:14.980
You know, they're married, they might have kids

01:06:14.980 --> 01:06:18.860
and I'm just kid myself and vice versa. When

01:06:18.860 --> 01:06:21.639
I got a lot older, I could not relate to some

01:06:21.639 --> 01:06:24.599
of the people I was playing with because we were

01:06:24.599 --> 01:06:27.980
just dealing with different stuff. While I have

01:06:27.980 --> 01:06:32.139
discovered lasting, meaningful relationships

01:06:32.139 --> 01:06:35.289
throughout my professional career. I would say

01:06:35.289 --> 01:06:40.289
they were more rare than my college teammates.

01:06:40.670 --> 01:06:44.949
As far as who I still keep in contact with, honestly,

01:06:45.210 --> 01:06:49.510
not many people. I mean, were we to cross paths,

01:06:49.769 --> 01:06:53.769
would things be good? Yeah, for sure. You have

01:06:53.769 --> 01:06:56.250
the social media interactions now where you comment

01:06:56.250 --> 01:06:59.030
on each other's stuff and whatever. But to this

01:06:59.030 --> 01:07:04.369
day, my closest friend is Rachel Holloway. And

01:07:04.369 --> 01:07:06.809
her and I still have a really close relationship.

01:07:07.650 --> 01:07:12.070
So she is the college teammate that I've stayed

01:07:12.070 --> 01:07:15.230
closest to. From a psychological standpoint,

01:07:15.429 --> 01:07:18.389
how does facing a rival who beat you in a big

01:07:18.389 --> 01:07:21.210
moment in a previous season affect the team the

01:07:21.210 --> 01:07:23.650
following year? Even if your roster has improved

01:07:23.650 --> 01:07:26.590
and you're objectively a stronger team, do players

01:07:26.590 --> 01:07:29.170
carry any mental baggage or added pressure into

01:07:29.170 --> 01:07:31.630
those matchups? And how can coaches help them

01:07:31.630 --> 01:07:34.750
reframe that moment? And as the follow -up question,

01:07:34.969 --> 01:07:38.130
were there any teams that gave you PTSD as a

01:07:38.130 --> 01:07:40.469
player and how did you overcome it? I don't know

01:07:40.469 --> 01:07:42.889
if I can answer this question because I personally

01:07:42.889 --> 01:07:46.570
can't relate to this. There were never any teams

01:07:46.570 --> 01:07:50.289
that I was like scared to play or that I dreaded

01:07:50.289 --> 01:07:54.190
playing. In Beach, I will say I had partners

01:07:54.190 --> 01:07:57.869
who had their own previous traumas with teams.

01:07:58.599 --> 01:08:01.599
Or, you know, in their experience before we played

01:08:01.599 --> 01:08:03.900
together, they just could not beat a particular

01:08:03.900 --> 01:08:06.320
team and had kind of resigned themselves to the

01:08:06.320 --> 01:08:07.960
fact that it was just never going to happen.

01:08:08.039 --> 01:08:11.500
I personally cannot relate to that because maybe

01:08:11.500 --> 01:08:15.039
I was cocky or confident or stupid enough to

01:08:15.039 --> 01:08:17.239
think that I could beat everybody at any time.

01:08:18.300 --> 01:08:20.699
Which chalk that up to whatever you want to.

01:08:20.880 --> 01:08:22.460
Well, as a coach, that's the mentality you want

01:08:22.460 --> 01:08:25.140
to shoot for. To me, this question is broken

01:08:25.140 --> 01:08:28.350
into two parts. If you've lost to a team. you

01:08:28.350 --> 01:08:32.510
know, once or twice, I find it's generally motivation

01:08:32.510 --> 01:08:37.270
to get after it. And you can do that. If that

01:08:37.270 --> 01:08:41.229
number becomes four, five, six, seven, then you're

01:08:41.229 --> 01:08:44.250
dealing with a totally different headspace for

01:08:44.250 --> 01:08:47.989
athletes. The only way, or in my opinion, the

01:08:47.989 --> 01:08:51.409
best way to deal with that is to just focus on

01:08:51.409 --> 01:08:54.250
the execution of each skill and what you're trying

01:08:54.250 --> 01:08:57.510
to do in that moment. You want to take away Those

01:08:57.510 --> 01:09:00.029
thoughts of, oh, I can't do this or they beat

01:09:00.029 --> 01:09:02.729
me last time. Those are essentially just distractions.

01:09:02.869 --> 01:09:06.289
And you kind of label all of those things as

01:09:06.289 --> 01:09:09.170
thoughts that take you away from performing in

01:09:09.170 --> 01:09:10.729
the moment. And so you're always trying to get

01:09:10.729 --> 01:09:12.949
your athletes to be in the moment, in this point.

01:09:13.050 --> 01:09:15.170
What do I have to do? How am I going to perform

01:09:15.170 --> 01:09:16.909
this skill? And what are the relevant decisions

01:09:16.909 --> 01:09:19.270
I have to make? And if you can help them get

01:09:19.270 --> 01:09:21.369
into that point, then all of the history and

01:09:21.369 --> 01:09:23.489
all of that, it doesn't matter. So that's your

01:09:23.489 --> 01:09:26.409
approach in general. Yeah, as far as the PTSD

01:09:26.409 --> 01:09:29.189
and how to overcome it, A, that's the reason

01:09:29.189 --> 01:09:33.029
sport exists is because you start out on equal

01:09:33.029 --> 01:09:36.029
footing and anything can happen. That's what

01:09:36.029 --> 01:09:40.010
is so exciting about sport. What happened in

01:09:40.010 --> 01:09:42.010
the past and what is going to happen in the future

01:09:42.010 --> 01:09:46.310
doesn't matter. All that matters is your preparation

01:09:46.310 --> 01:09:48.869
and your mindset in this moment right now, as

01:09:48.869 --> 01:09:52.119
Adam said, and how to overcome it. Prepare for

01:09:52.119 --> 01:09:54.199
those teams the exact same way you've prepared

01:09:54.199 --> 01:09:56.699
for every other team. Keep your routines the

01:09:56.699 --> 01:09:59.380
same. And you're starting at 0 -0. What happened

01:09:59.380 --> 01:10:01.380
in the past doesn't matter. Nobody cares. I'm

01:10:01.380 --> 01:10:03.239
definitely simplifying it. I understand that

01:10:03.239 --> 01:10:05.500
something like that is difficult to overcome.

01:10:05.880 --> 01:10:09.100
It's all mental. It's all about you see it with

01:10:09.100 --> 01:10:12.180
tentative swings or I don't want to make a mistake.

01:10:12.560 --> 01:10:15.100
There are all kinds of distractions that athletes

01:10:15.100 --> 01:10:17.600
have to deal with that take them out of their

01:10:17.600 --> 01:10:21.000
ideal performance state. And something like this

01:10:21.000 --> 01:10:23.479
just falls into that category. And you're constantly

01:10:23.479 --> 01:10:26.220
working to keep your athletes in the present,

01:10:26.279 --> 01:10:28.640
focused on what they have to do next. All right,

01:10:28.640 --> 01:10:30.779
last question that we have here. Shout out to

01:10:30.779 --> 01:10:33.399
our listeners in Canada. I'm one of those people

01:10:33.399 --> 01:10:35.640
that lived in Toronto for a number of years and

01:10:35.640 --> 01:10:37.739
followed women's volleyball in the United States.

01:10:37.859 --> 01:10:40.180
I'm curious to learn about Sarah's recruitment

01:10:40.180 --> 01:10:42.960
story. How does one come from Kitchener, Ontario,

01:10:43.300 --> 01:10:46.100
little town, not that little, but kind of little,

01:10:46.199 --> 01:10:49.369
and land at Nebraska? What universities were

01:10:49.369 --> 01:10:51.729
in your final two or three? What put Nebraska

01:10:51.729 --> 01:10:54.250
over the edge for you and made you commit to

01:10:54.250 --> 01:10:56.689
there? And what advice would you give to any

01:10:56.689 --> 01:10:58.970
other international high school volleyball player

01:10:58.970 --> 01:11:01.270
that is looking to play volleyball in a power

01:11:01.270 --> 01:11:04.369
four conference in the U .S.? This is a big question.

01:11:04.430 --> 01:11:07.010
Wow. I'm going to say a couple things here because

01:11:07.010 --> 01:11:10.470
Sarah, we know she's cocky and thinks she can

01:11:10.470 --> 01:11:12.829
beat everybody, but she doesn't like to talk

01:11:12.829 --> 01:11:15.189
about herself. Sarah was recruited by literally

01:11:15.189 --> 01:11:18.489
every school in North America. So how did you

01:11:18.489 --> 01:11:20.409
make your choice? No, actually, I wasn't. I was

01:11:20.409 --> 01:11:23.029
not recruited by Canadian schools. Which is hilarious.

01:11:23.829 --> 01:11:26.810
Seriously, Canadian schools did not recruit me.

01:11:27.069 --> 01:11:28.670
That might have had something to do with your

01:11:28.670 --> 01:11:30.130
dad telling them that there's no chance you're

01:11:30.130 --> 01:11:30.750
going. Well, and then they were upset when I

01:11:30.750 --> 01:11:32.489
went to the States, and I was like, okay, whatever.

01:11:32.670 --> 01:11:36.130
You could have gone to any U .S. college that

01:11:36.130 --> 01:11:38.069
you wanted to. How did you make your decision?

01:11:38.350 --> 01:11:43.329
The reason that happened, the reason that so

01:11:43.329 --> 01:11:48.439
many schools became interested, I guess, A, I

01:11:48.439 --> 01:11:50.920
played for a club team that went to American

01:11:50.920 --> 01:11:55.319
tournaments. So as a Canadian, if you want to

01:11:55.319 --> 01:11:59.020
get seen by top programs, you need to play in

01:11:59.020 --> 01:12:02.399
the States. It's really hard to convince coaches

01:12:02.399 --> 01:12:05.760
to come watch you in Canada because that is,

01:12:05.840 --> 01:12:08.640
why would they come watch one player in Canada

01:12:08.640 --> 01:12:11.880
when they can watch 200 in the US for the same

01:12:11.880 --> 01:12:14.380
weekend? Do you know what I mean? So that was

01:12:14.380 --> 01:12:18.319
a huge part of my development. I actually, playing

01:12:18.319 --> 01:12:22.539
for my junior and youth national team, a lot

01:12:22.539 --> 01:12:25.199
of college coaches are involved in those programs

01:12:25.199 --> 01:12:28.800
on the American side. And so going to those tournaments

01:12:28.800 --> 01:12:32.359
competing for Canada against college coaches,

01:12:32.380 --> 01:12:36.939
the word kind of got out, I guess, of like, hey,

01:12:36.960 --> 01:12:41.199
there's this young kid playing junior national

01:12:41.199 --> 01:12:45.270
team as a youth. And then I think the word spread.

01:12:45.470 --> 01:12:48.189
So for context, for people who don't know, Sarah

01:12:48.189 --> 01:12:49.750
played on the junior national team when she was

01:12:49.750 --> 01:12:55.289
14 years old. Yeah. And then things, so things

01:12:55.289 --> 01:12:57.550
started ramping up because of that. And then

01:12:57.550 --> 01:13:03.630
my team went to, it all became massive when we

01:13:03.630 --> 01:13:06.449
went to a tournament at Penn State, the East

01:13:06.449 --> 01:13:10.890
Coast Championship, and my team won. And then

01:13:10.890 --> 01:13:16.640
it grew even more. So if you want to play power

01:13:16.640 --> 01:13:20.600
four, play for a club team that goes to the U

01:13:20.600 --> 01:13:26.359
.S. for tournaments. As far as the schools that

01:13:26.359 --> 01:13:32.180
I had narrowed it down to, my top five, I guess,

01:13:32.260 --> 01:13:38.420
were Nebraska, Penn State, Stanford, Minnesota,

01:13:38.859 --> 01:13:43.460
and Ohio State. Ohio State was a nostalgia thing,

01:13:43.579 --> 01:13:46.880
I think, because older players that I knew from

01:13:46.880 --> 01:13:49.380
Canada had gone there. It was in driving distance

01:13:49.380 --> 01:13:52.020
of where I grew up. So I went and watched a lot

01:13:52.020 --> 01:13:54.560
of games there growing up. So but those were

01:13:54.560 --> 01:13:57.359
the top five. When it came down to it, I was

01:13:57.359 --> 01:14:01.600
deciding between Minnesota and Nebraska. I think

01:14:01.600 --> 01:14:05.539
people were shocked that I chose Nebraska because

01:14:05.539 --> 01:14:08.279
at the time, like they were good, but they were

01:14:08.279 --> 01:14:12.140
like a. sweet 16 level team they weren't really

01:14:12.140 --> 01:14:15.500
they won in 2000 but after that they weren't

01:14:15.500 --> 01:14:18.899
really making huge pushes so I think the expectation

01:14:18.899 --> 01:14:22.100
or the thought was that I would people expected

01:14:22.100 --> 01:14:25.239
me to go to Stanford the reason I chose Nebraska

01:14:25.239 --> 01:14:28.880
is I had a very distinct list of things that

01:14:28.880 --> 01:14:32.079
I wanted from a school and a program a volleyball

01:14:32.079 --> 01:14:34.960
program and quite frankly Nebraska was the only

01:14:34.960 --> 01:14:38.210
one that checked every box And that is how I

01:14:38.210 --> 01:14:41.010
made my decision. It's as simple as that. What

01:14:41.010 --> 01:14:43.770
things were missing from Minnesota and Stanford

01:14:43.770 --> 01:14:45.970
that were on your list of things that were important?

01:14:46.289 --> 01:14:49.789
The strength training program was elite at Nebraska.

01:14:49.909 --> 01:14:54.270
I didn't get a good vibe from the Stanford strength

01:14:54.270 --> 01:14:57.289
training. Minnesota's was fine, but it wasn't

01:14:57.289 --> 01:15:01.510
that level. I knew that I wanted to major in

01:15:01.510 --> 01:15:06.100
a science -related field. And not knowing what

01:15:06.100 --> 01:15:09.659
the load or life would be like as a student athlete,

01:15:09.760 --> 01:15:12.199
I wanted a place where I would have strong academic

01:15:12.199 --> 01:15:15.199
support should I have needed it. Stanford did

01:15:15.199 --> 01:15:20.199
not offer that. They were very snobby in their

01:15:20.199 --> 01:15:23.699
mindset around academics, which, okay, they're

01:15:23.699 --> 01:15:30.800
very... Honestly, the Minnesota -Nebraska differentiator

01:15:30.800 --> 01:15:33.340
was so tough. And I remember I developed such

01:15:33.340 --> 01:15:35.640
a close relationship with Mike Hebert, who was

01:15:35.640 --> 01:15:38.100
the coach at Minnesota at the time. I cried when

01:15:38.100 --> 01:15:40.079
I called him and told him I wasn't going to go

01:15:40.079 --> 01:15:42.619
there. You know, the fan support at Nebraska

01:15:42.619 --> 01:15:47.359
obviously was top. Academic support. The biochemistry

01:15:47.359 --> 01:15:51.399
program at Nebraska was very reputable. And that's

01:15:51.399 --> 01:15:54.220
what I ended up majoring in. Strength and conditioning.

01:15:55.100 --> 01:15:57.539
The ability to propel myself into a professional

01:15:57.539 --> 01:16:01.199
career afterward. The vibe of Lincoln was very

01:16:01.199 --> 01:16:05.500
similar to the town I grew up in. Just, yeah,

01:16:05.619 --> 01:16:08.819
everything. So that's how I ended up there. And

01:16:08.819 --> 01:16:12.140
I will also say I am one of the few people who

01:16:12.140 --> 01:16:16.060
waited until my senior year to commit. I made

01:16:16.060 --> 01:16:18.600
sure I visited all the programs I was interested

01:16:18.600 --> 01:16:21.079
in so I could make an informed decision. And

01:16:21.079 --> 01:16:23.949
the rest is history. And what? Do you have any

01:16:23.949 --> 01:16:26.390
other advice for kids in high school who would

01:16:26.390 --> 01:16:29.210
want to play in a power four? So that's how you

01:16:29.210 --> 01:16:31.829
go about playing. That's where you should go.

01:16:31.909 --> 01:16:34.329
That's how you get seen. You know, what are one

01:16:34.329 --> 01:16:37.310
or two things that you would say would allow

01:16:37.310 --> 01:16:42.069
an athlete to compete in those conferences? Well,

01:16:42.130 --> 01:16:46.090
I think understanding that you're not owed anything.

01:16:47.010 --> 01:16:51.189
It is a very professional mindset. NCAA sports

01:16:51.189 --> 01:16:54.630
at the power four level is a business and decisions

01:16:54.630 --> 01:16:57.869
are made as such. So you're not owed anything.

01:16:58.090 --> 01:17:01.630
This isn't club volleyball. This isn't like we're

01:17:01.630 --> 01:17:03.489
here to play for fun. Everybody gets a chance.

01:17:03.689 --> 01:17:06.329
It is a business. It is professional and it's

01:17:06.329 --> 01:17:10.170
cutthroat. And you need to go in with that mindset

01:17:10.170 --> 01:17:14.710
and understand that you need to earn everything

01:17:14.710 --> 01:17:16.930
that you're given because nothing will be handed

01:17:16.930 --> 01:17:19.319
to you. And not everybody is cut out for that

01:17:19.319 --> 01:17:24.060
mindset. And that is totally fine. But that is

01:17:24.060 --> 01:17:26.800
how pro sports operate. That's good advice. I

01:17:26.800 --> 01:17:29.380
think we still have an obscene amount. Three

01:17:29.380 --> 01:17:32.020
trillion. Of questions. But we might have to

01:17:32.020 --> 01:17:33.760
do this again in another couple weeks. But this

01:17:33.760 --> 01:17:37.079
was a lot of fun. We appreciate everybody who

01:17:37.079 --> 01:17:39.319
submits questions. We hope that you guys like

01:17:39.319 --> 01:17:41.180
the answers. Again, if there's any follow -ups,

01:17:41.239 --> 01:17:44.060
hit us up on YouTube or social media. I hope

01:17:44.060 --> 01:17:46.220
everybody enjoyed this switch up today. Yeah.

01:17:46.300 --> 01:17:48.819
I had fun. I always enjoy answering questions.

01:17:49.119 --> 01:17:52.319
All right. As always, we got a few matches that

01:17:52.319 --> 01:17:54.260
we think you guys should watch this week that

01:17:54.260 --> 01:17:57.159
we will be watching. So looking forward, Wednesday

01:17:57.159 --> 01:18:00.539
at 7 p .m. Eastern, we have Texas A &M. versus

01:18:00.539 --> 01:18:02.800
Florida. That could be an interesting match.

01:18:03.000 --> 01:18:05.199
I'm finding the Florida team interesting still,

01:18:05.279 --> 01:18:07.479
even though they're not ranked. Well, they're

01:18:07.479 --> 01:18:10.260
not ranked, but it's mostly because they're inconsistent,

01:18:10.659 --> 01:18:12.659
not because they're not capable of beating teams.

01:18:12.819 --> 01:18:15.000
Which is the story for literally everybody minus

01:18:15.000 --> 01:18:17.640
five teams. You know, who knows? Texas A &M has

01:18:17.640 --> 01:18:19.479
had some big wins. They've also had some losses.

01:18:19.640 --> 01:18:21.699
Same with Florida. Obviously, Texas A &M has

01:18:21.699 --> 01:18:23.300
been more consistent than Florida, but I think

01:18:23.300 --> 01:18:25.640
this one will be worth paying attention to. Thursday

01:18:25.640 --> 01:18:29.920
at 9 p .m. Eastern, TCU versus Colorado. So he's

01:18:29.920 --> 01:18:33.300
been on the downswing and Colorado had a rough

01:18:33.300 --> 01:18:36.439
week against Kansas State. Somebody is going

01:18:36.439 --> 01:18:38.800
to be able to right the ship on Thursday. So

01:18:38.800 --> 01:18:41.979
we will see which team that is. Again, I'm not

01:18:41.979 --> 01:18:44.560
expecting that to be a great game, but the implications

01:18:44.560 --> 01:18:46.659
could be interesting. Or it could be interesting

01:18:46.659 --> 01:18:49.760
if both teams. show up and extra interesting

01:18:49.760 --> 01:18:52.039
if there's a dumpster fire on each side we don't

01:18:52.039 --> 01:18:53.960
know now we start to get into the games that'll

01:18:53.960 --> 01:18:57.439
be worth watching period well mostly yeah friday

01:18:57.439 --> 01:19:00.939
at 10 p .m eastern pitt versus stanford stanford's

01:19:00.939 --> 01:19:02.840
got a big week this week stanford's got a big

01:19:02.840 --> 01:19:06.460
week this week and smu i'm curious to see how

01:19:06.460 --> 01:19:08.460
far stanford has come with their young players

01:19:08.460 --> 01:19:11.840
are they ready to show up and what it looks like

01:19:11.840 --> 01:19:14.640
against really good competition stay tuned to

01:19:14.640 --> 01:19:17.800
that my prediction could come true this week

01:19:17.800 --> 01:19:20.439
hold on to this stanford winning the acc prediction

01:19:20.439 --> 01:19:23.260
just to the death just i mean i said it i'm not

01:19:23.260 --> 01:19:25.439
going to go back on it but it could happen this

01:19:25.439 --> 01:19:28.420
week sunday we got a couple games to watch 1

01:19:28.420 --> 01:19:31.560
p .m eastern louisville versus miami we'll see

01:19:31.560 --> 01:19:34.510
what miami shows up And then finally Sunday at

01:19:34.510 --> 01:19:37.850
3 p .m. Eastern, Nebraska versus USC. This will

01:19:37.850 --> 01:19:39.850
be a really good test for USC. I don't expect

01:19:39.850 --> 01:19:42.850
them to win. Will they win a set? Probably not.

01:19:43.010 --> 01:19:45.270
No, probably not. But again, you have a whole

01:19:45.270 --> 01:19:47.369
bunch of young players who have nothing to lose,

01:19:47.430 --> 01:19:50.890
who are very physical. I'm curious to see how

01:19:50.890 --> 01:19:55.470
they respond to Nebraska's defense and obviously

01:19:55.470 --> 01:19:58.510
just relentless offense. That one I'm curious

01:19:58.510 --> 01:20:01.989
more to see what the development of USC's young

01:20:01.989 --> 01:20:04.189
players has been. That concludes this week's

01:20:04.189 --> 01:20:06.029
episode of Volley Talk. There's always something

01:20:06.029 --> 01:20:08.109
shaking in the volleyball world and we hope you

01:20:08.109 --> 01:20:10.729
enjoyed this little fix. Be sure to follow the

01:20:10.729 --> 01:20:12.810
show so you don't miss any updates and we'd be

01:20:12.810 --> 01:20:15.369
so grateful if you'd leave us a five -star review.

01:20:15.710 --> 01:20:18.430
You can also find us on Instagram at volleytalk

01:20:18.430 --> 01:20:21.770
underscore podcast. If there's a topic you'd

01:20:21.770 --> 01:20:23.930
like us to discuss, you can reach out to us on

01:20:23.930 --> 01:20:28.050
Instagram or at info at sarahpavin .com. Thanks

01:20:28.050 --> 01:20:30.369
so much for joining us and we'll be back next

01:20:30.369 --> 01:20:30.689
week.